Jamie and I were watching a little TV today to wind down from a hard day's work. All of a sudden the screen goes black and I hear a strange beeping sound. After a few seconds, I realized that a warning message was running across the top of the screen about a severe thunderstorm warning. Apparently, the weather service had decided to extend this warning for another 35 minutes. You'd think that the situation was incredibly dire, we're talking tornado here, if the cable company decides to black out the screen during a commercial break to issue this warning. You'd be wrong, though, it's just rain. Rain is so rare in Southern California, that everybody freaks out if it starts to sprinkle. Granted, I did see lightning here last night for the first time in California, which must seem like magic to these people, but the hardest rain I've ever seen here has still not required the use of windshield wipers (which, by the way, do not come standard on cars in California). You might remember a couple of weeks ago my relating the story of seeing the flames of a huge wild fire from the highway. That, of course, is no big deal to these people. But rain, oh no! Stay indoors! Lock up the children! Cover the swimming pools! The sky is falling! I guess, it just goes to show you that the fear of the unknown is alive and well in the 21st century.