Is this really December?

Is this December?  Seriously?  Wow ... I've been in California for over ten years now, and sometimes I still have to check the high tech digital computer interwebipedia calendar to be sure. It's December 22, and I can ride down to the beach in short sleeves and shorts.  That's a statement that often makes me scratch my head in confusion. I grew up in Michigan, and late December certainly never meant riding a bike to the beach ... forget the short sleeves and shorts (unless you're one of those crazy people there who do it just to be crazy). More often it meant making sure the driveway was cleared so I could get the car out to go to work, and then pre-heating the car and clearing ice from the window so I could see where I was going. Sure, I miss the snow every now and then, but I remember too many white-knuckled drives home on the black-ice covered highways for that emotion to last very long.

We've had a little colder weather this month, but the past few days have been beautiful. Last year at this very time we had some pretty rough storms ... heavy rain and wind, flooding, aqueduct walls breaking, and the canopy of vines in our back yard collapsed. This year ... pretty darn nice.

I took the Funqapillar (Hunqapillar + Fun + Funky) down to the harbor to see the waves and snap a few photos to prove to myself later that this was indeed the weather in late December. This is what I saw:

Calm, Cool Dana Point Harbor water

People and dogs having fun ... no shirt ... in December!

Surfin' ... in December!

Funqapillar at the Harbor ... basking in the sun and ready to roll ... in December!

I have to admit, we're a little spoiled here when it comes to having great year-round weather. Sure, it costs more to live here ... and we have the occasional earthquake ... and sometimes the coastline crumbles and falls away ... and the traffic is a nightmare ... but the weather is pretty awesome.

Hope the weather's fine where you are, and that you have a wonderful holiday weekend!