Winter Storms

Hi Mom,

Well, I'm finally back in the blogosphere after a long absence! First there was getting caught up with myself after getting back from Zanzibar, then I had to deal with getting a new computer (my old one just couldn't keep up with me anymore!) and finally I got a new camera for Christmas that I had to spend some time playing with and getting used to. I've been busy too though during all this time so hopefully I'll have plenty to blog about from here on in!

There are many photos of Zanzibar to come, and I've been doing a lot of knitting too. But I thought I'd get back into things with the big news here right now, the winter storms that ripped through Northern California last weekend. (We even had to close the showroom at work when we lost power on Friday, after mopping up from all the water that poured in through the windows and through the ceiling - thanks to the former tenant in the empty unit above ours, who left the windows open when they cleared out of the space!)

When the rain took a break and everything settled down, it was amazing to see how much damage and debris there was everywhere. So of course I had to take my new camera out to try and capture what I could.

Nathan and Rushka walking up Park Hill, and along Buena Vista Park

Trees and branches knocked down in Buena Vista Park

What was a streetsign - and the tree next to our parking space at home
(luckily I was still at work when this one blew down!)

The streets of San Francisco after the storm

(Okay, so there are other images out there that are much more dramatic, but I forgot my camera on the day of the high winds - so I missed the exciting scenes, like the tree that went through the roof of a subaru parked outside of my work... but I still thought these shots were pretty cool!)

Since we were flooded in the first big storm last winter, I was worried about how our apartment would fare this year. Happily we were fortunate to stay dry this time around (those sandbags on the deck might not be pretty, but at least they're useful). Which meant we had the chance to relax and be cozy in from the rain during the spates of bad weather outside. Overall, Nathan and I have been doing well this holiday season, first with a great Christmas with all of his family in Texas, and then with our indulgent second Christmas at home in San Francisco.

Our haul from Christmas in Paris - and goodies from Canada too!

(The lady was happy she wasn't forgotten!)

Nathan's family enjoyed being together for Christmas so much that they decided to spend New Year's together as well, so Rachael, Matt, Jessica & Patrick all came up to San Francisco for the holiday weekend. The first time they had all spent New Year's together since they were small! It was so great to have them here and to have a chance to spend the time together. We had a delicious meal at a wonderful Italian restaurant, then rung in the New Year at on of the city's best dive bars with a sampling of the unique characters that San Francisco has to offer. It was a great way to ring in 2008! (Next year, I'd like to see if Nathan and I can go out with Clay in New York, if his plans to move play out as planned....)

While everyone was here, we went to SFMoMA and saw one work by a photographer who took pictures every year of his wife and her sisters in order by age. So of course we had to take a picture of the Smith siblings for posterity too, in order by age:

Now the trick is to get a photo of them all together every year from here on out!

More posts with photos of Zanzibar and of course my knitting projects are upcoming. But I thought you would want to know that I am still out here, and that we made it through the holidays in style and the storms in one piece!

Love to you both,

Megan