I was listening to a news report about the mudslides in Southern California. The reporter described the slide as "A wall of water mixed with tree trunks and boulders the size of Volkswagens"
It appears that, even though VW Bugs haven't been sold new in the US in 24 years, people still can conjour up a vision of size when something is compared to one.
After all, you never hear anyone saying something is the size of a Toyota.
(PS: Good Luck and prayers to anyone affected by the slides)
Thanks -- it is mudslide season here in Southern California, again. Or, more accurately, "debris flow"
John McAfee wrote a wonderful book called "Control of Nature," a portion of which describes this. "Some of the more expensive real estate in Los Angeles is up against mountains that are rising and disintegrating as rapidly as any in the world. After a complex coincidence of natural events, boulders will flow out of these mountains like fish eggs, mixed with mud, sand, and smaller rocks in a cascading mass known as debris flow. Plucking up trees and cars, bursting through doors and windows, filling up houses to their eaves, debris flows threaten the lives of people living in and near Los Angeles' famous canyons. At extraordinary expense the city has built a hundred and fifty stadium-like basins in a daring effort to catch the debris."
And during heavy rainfalls, those catchbasins fill to the top with gravel, rocks, and boulders the size of houses in a twinkling. Some of them are, presumably, the size of a Volkswagen.
I grew up in SoCal, so know exactly what you're talking about.
California's 4 Seasons:
Drought Season Fire Season Mudslide Season Earthquake Season
The problem is, that there's been all 4 seasons in just the past 3 months.
I heard the same thing here in New Zealand! HEheheeh... I laughed sooooo hard!
Allan :-)
Gee, here in the Chicago area we get only 2 seasons:
Winter Construction
And the two are starting to overlap.
Charles in Palatine
you forgot the "humid" season. Having grown up in a region that kept a reasonable humidity year round, I find it damn near impossible to do anything in the summer except hide in an air-conditioned room.
Truly a miserable place to live. No mountains, no real snow, just bitter wind and humidity. And as you said, construction.
Wheaton. Presently. Hopefully not forever. ;)
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