Dino Saga 071216 _ Getting Cold

Dino Saga 071216 _ Getting Cold

I know that you guys and gals in the Godforsaken part of the country put your Dinos away for the winter and suffer withdrawal from Nov. 1 to April 1. We poor guys in Southern California and even some in Florida have to put up with the cold too. It is not every day, it is not in the daytime, there is no snow on the ground, but damn it, it is cold in the mornings from December 1 to March 1. Sometimes there is frost on the grass, sometimes even on the car under a carport.

Santa Barbara County has something like 22 different climate zones. 7,000 ft mountains, flat desert with 1” average rainfall and the famous coastal area. I am a half mile from the ocean on a mesa about 100 ft above sea level. Nice open Southern exposure with sunrise and sunset pretty well visible. Just behind the property the land drops into a creek that is almost at sea level and is shadowed by the oaks on the northern slope up to the mesa. This 100 ft difference in elevation and the shading effects make a huge difference.

I can see frost on my putting green at 7:30 AM. 5 minutes of sprinkler knocks it off nicely. The 7th green down in the shade has ice on it from the sprinkler that went off at 6:00 AM. Talk about a fast green! Up top it went down to 32 degrees, down below it went to 28. Of course you have to keep in mind that by noon it will be 65-70 everywhere. That 40 degree spread between midnight and noon is typical of Santa Barbara. Bar hopping ladies have a hell of a time figuring out what to wear. Cocktails at six is Strapless, dinner at eight is Light Wrap, coffee at two AM is Eskimo time. As I said, we have to acknowledge winter but we do not bow too low to it.

The Dino itself is doing fine. The cleanout of the heater radiators and the replacement of the hoses and water valve did wonders. So did the redo of the control cables that direct the air and modulate the water. Had a nice surprise on Friday. My daughter Donna, husband Raymond and a pile of ski gear arrived from their home in Zandvoort. We will spend the Holidays in Santa Barbara and then head to Heavenly for a week of skiing. Heavenly finally has a couple of feet of powder and another month should make things perfect.

Bought a nice tree on Saturday and dropped Donna and Raymond off at Avis to pick up the mid-sized car they had reserved in the Netherlands. Poor babies, all Avis had at their price range was a red Mustang. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. They were delighted. Have to check out all of the old friends and old meeting places. Been spending Christmas with us for almost 15 years now and Donna has brought Raymond up to speed on all the action spots. Look forward to having them back again.

Got the Mustang and the Dino side by side in the parking lot for a little photo-shoot. The day was typical, Frost in the morning, Hot sun in the afternoon, Cold again real fast once the sun went down. Enjoy the pictures.

John
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Roberto,
Both my daughters are safely married so not much action possible in either Santa Barbara or Zandvoort. They are both pretty good lookers for 30+ California Blonds. I have to add one more picture to the Saga. The sun came out on Sunday and Donna and Raymond figured they would do a picture to really unhinge their friends in Zandvoort. Out came the Gold Bikini and the Gold High Heels. Blue sky, Mountains, Palm Trees, Leaves on all the other trees, Candy Apple Red Mustang, Beautiful Girl, Not much Bikini and SUN. It couldn't get any better. Christmas in Santa Barbara! If you want to see what Donna does for a living, go to www.corbani.com. Enjoy!
John
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