Hello Hawaii and Goodbye Sacramento Winter Storm

There is a huge monster winter storm heading for Sacramento tonight that I will miss because this Sacramento REALTOR will be sipping a Makers Mark at The Four Seasons in Lanai, Hawaii, when it hits. This is just the first leg of my solo 2014 winter vacation. The photo on this page was shot by my team member and friend, Barbara Dow, when we enjoyed a 10 days in Maui for my birthday this past June. You can see the island way off in the background, and that is the island of Lanai, where I will be later on today. This is my personal reward for a year well done.

Supposedly it will be dinner-time in Lanai about the time the Sacramento winter storm blows its way into town, and I hope it’s not a disaster. The last really horrible storm we survived was in January of 2008 when a tree fell on our home in Land Park. We lost all power, most of our fish died, and we wandered around Pancake Circus on Broadway dressed like homeless people.

Now we have no fish anymore because I flushed the last one down the toilet. I waited forever for that angel fish to kick the bucket. It refused to give up the ghost. After months and months of hanging on and waiting for that last lone fish to croak, I finally decided that was it for the fish tank. It required a lot more work than I had time to devote. I would take matters into my own hands. I scooped the fish out of the tank and dropped it into the toilet. I stood there for a few minutes and watched it swim around. I reached for the handle. The minute I depressed the handle, I changed my mind but it was too late. The fish got caught up in the swirling current. He was gone. I felt awful. Very sad. Tears. But you know, it had to be done.

We don’t have any birds, either, who could freeze to death when power goes out during a Sacramento winter storm. We gave away all of our birds, found better homes. Not that my husband minded much because they chirped and sang all the time, which I enjoyed and he did not. It left an empty hole in the house without the birds because I’ve raised birds — cockatiels, parakeets, canaries — for 30-some years. I love their songs and nestling my nose into that warm feather scent, as odd as that might sound. But there was nobody around the house to take care of them when I work so much, so we had to make adjustments to our lifestyle. It wasn’t fair that the birds didn’t even have names. They deserved better.

But our cats, well, I make time for them. No matter what. Cats are essential to my well being. I could not envision a life without cats in it. My husband already knows the drill with the cats for a winter storm in Sacramento because we’ve talked about a plan. Stuff them into pillowcases if one must and run for the hills if the house is about to flood.

My husband lives by the Boy Scout Motto, so I’m confident he can handle whatever can come up while I am gone. Still, it doesn’t mean I won’t worry about him, the cats and everybody else in Sacramento.