A Two Red Flag Day

Living in Catalina, you learn to pay attention to the weather flags out at the Cabrillo Mole and by the Harbor Master’s office at the Green Pier. With one red flag, the winds are up but passenger boats may still be going across the channel—although you can expect a bumpy ride. With two red flags, there’s little hope. Since today (Feb. 9th) marks the birthday of the U.S. National Weather Service, nature’s weather is partying hard. Right now the wind is up to 50 mph gusts, blowing misty rain, whitecaps outside of the harbor. Not the “sunny California” we all think about. Button down the hatches, bring the lawn furniture in, stay inside. Red flags, hot chocolate, and tea. But who knows, it could change at any moment.

Raven envy

We live on a steep hillside--it's about 250 steps to the shoreline--so I kind of envy the ravens when they take off and glide downtown in a matter of moments. When the Santa Anna winds blow and there are red flag warnings for LA, here on Catalina Island you'll see ravens soaring, diving, doing barrel rolls and generally dancing on the wind. They're vocal birds, and when they land nearby like this pair on a power pole, we hear them squawking, quorking, and making all sorts of wild guttural sounds. Sometimes we can see them opening their bills and making quick clicking and clacking calls while they ruff up their feathers. They've got to be talking; it's just a language people don't understand.