After the Storms: Mother Nature’s Splendor

We’ve all seen the horrendous pictures of the havoc wreaked upon our state as storm after storm pummels California. We are warned that more are on the way. Nature’s fury seems all the more endless somehow because we take the presence of California's nearly ubiquitous sun for granted. We’re Californians. We don’t do weather. That’s something we watch happen somewhere else to other people, usually far away, and then revel in our good fortune to not be there. We live in perpetual Paradise.

But not this winter. Oh no! Powerful images of cars stuck in flooded streets, sliding hillsides and muck and debris turning pristine beaches into trash heaps are splashed across social media and television news broadcasts, across the country. Some are riveting, some heartbreaking. All are captivating as sights we rarely see close up and personal. Surely, there is some small pleasure taken by those buried in the snow or freezing in the Midwest that even the Californians are not basking in the warm sun this winter.

These major storms have been horrific, breaking old rainfall records. The damage is particularly painful to those suffering in areas already devastated by the worst fires in California history. And we cannot help but be touched by the thought of those so much less fortunate, who have no home to hunker down in, being buffeted by the wind, rain and unseasonable cold.

Mother Nature can be tyrannical. We get it. We are humbled. But as the storms pass, we must take at least a moment to ponder the inspiration she leaves behind, once her fury is spent. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, out of the clouds of darkness, new life and beauty is born. After the destruction, the magical bird reappears, radiant and shimmering. It is in this spirit and to lift our spirits that I share these pictures of Paradise in her wintry splendor. Emerald green hills, snow capped majestic mountains and the living, breathing ocean are here for our viewing pleasure, if only for a fleeting moment.

Thank you to Sandy Perle (Saddleback Mountain), David B. Okun (ocean)and Patrick Sangi (Patriot Trial green hills) for capturing these stunning images and sharing them with the rest of us.

Enjoy!