While the midwest and east have been blasted with arctic storms and crazy wind chills, here in San Diego weather has been mild and warm with Christmas temperatures in the 70s on the beach.  We had that moment in the spring where it seemed like the years-long drought was over only to have months without rain capped by devastating wildfires throughout California in late November and December.

After two weeks off for winter break, we returned to school today.  Fresh faced kids greeted me with tales of their holiday exploits, eager to be back with friends and ready to get back to the business of school.  I am grateful to teach a room full of kids who love to learn.  And all day we could feel the weather change in the air.  Clouds gathered and loosed a few droplets here and there throughout the day, but the real rain held off.

An after school meeting encroached on my afternoon walk, but I felt the urge to head to the beach, even for a few minutes, to see if I could snap a few photos of the approaching storm.  It was gray but not yet dark as I pulled up to park at my favorite beach.  I grabbed my camera and stepped out of the car only to have the wind slap me with a face full of sand.  I made my way to the edge of the cliff to see what images would appear in my viewfinder and snapped a couple of shots when I was approached by a young woman with a microphone.

It turns out the woman was a reporter from a local news station in need of someone to interview about the weather.  She told me I’d be doing them a favor if I would come over and answer a few question (on camera!).  So, as the wind whipped and the raindrops started to fall, I talked about the weather on camera.  When I got home, I turned on the news…and with perfect timing, my husband walked in the door from work in time to see my 15 second interview!  And I managed to videotape it on my phone from our TV…thus my 15 seconds of fame!  (Here’s a screenshot, you can see the video footage on my Instagram post if you are interested.)