Stormy day

Happy new year! Virpi and I sang our way to 2008. Private garage karaoke party and some good old Finnish tunes.
I had some time off between Christmas and new years day. Had time to read a novel (I usually only read educational books,) which my best friend Kirsi sends me from Finland every Christmas. She is making sure that I won't forget my Finnish.
I went ice skating with uncle Jarmo and his girlfriend Nina at the Winter lodge. and then, Chris and I spent some quality time in a movie theater. We saw "the water horse" and "PS. I love you." Loved them both. This is 3rd Ave. San Mateo on Friday the 4Th.
Storms have raged through the bay area for the last couple of days now, leaving behind fallen trees and power lines, floods and mudslides, traffic trouble, and thousands of homes without electricity.
We sat in the stalls with our horses through the worst part of the storm on Saturday. I just love, love, love the rain and the earth needs it so badly here. But all that drumming, thunder and lightning was freaking out the horses.
The poor baby ran around her paddock wide eyed trying to huddle close with Samuel's baby in the next stall through a panel the wind had ribbed apart. They only calmed down when I came in to sit with them. Baby is so attached to me now, that she thought, as long as I was with her everything would be fine. When the thunder finally faded and I tried to leave she got anxious and bit me on the arm. poor thing. Most horses were in their stalls, but some stood out in the paddocks afraid to go in from all the drumming on the tin roof. Austin, an older heavy breed gelding just a stall away from the babies stood outside his back turned towards the rain and he was calm as a rock. As i looked at him I got a mental message that he was keeping an eye on the babies. He said he couldn't leave them out there alone, he had to be there to assure them that everything would be OK. I told him that the babies were all right and that he should go in before he would catch a cold (the poor guy is suffering from tumors too,) and amazingly he just walked right in as if I had taken a burden off his shoulders.
The pasture flooded badly and the ranch horses stood in the muddy pools with their backs against the rain, the ocean stirring wildly behind them. Some playfully fought for the few spots of higher ground.
the rain never stopped. But for a few minutes here and there it calmed down from a furious drumming enforced with the wind to a regular moderate rain fall. And that's when we took the opportunity to let madeira and steal out to walk around for just a few quick minutes.