Nature puts on 'Friday the 13th' show, leaves behind pretty pix

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Nature puts on 'Friday the 13th' show, leaves behind pretty pix

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uploaded by Sharon Raiford Bush

LOS ANGELES, CA -- In western civilization, Friday the 13th is a date marked by bad luck. In Tinseltown, that was the day a mighty Pacific storm made a dramatic appearance on the green carpet, accompanied by an entourage of natural forces powerful enough to activate car alarms and cause most of the Southland to take notice.

For an area known for its subtropical-Mediterranean climate, extensive periods of drought, high pollen counts and looming clouds of suffocating smog over area basins, a wallop of intense rain -- coupled by high wind -- is considered welcome relief.

So Friday the 13th was a good thing, even if the well-animated weather front placed a brief damper on beach-goers and all others who relish sun-kissed outdoor activities.

When Mother Nature decides to put on a show in LA and its surrounding communities, she does not play. In fact, she tends to get a bit freaky - reminiscent of  "The Wild, Wild West," that James Bond on horseback television series that was adapted to the big screen with actors Will Smith and Kevin Kline in starring roles.

But this personification of a controlling maternal being did not stroll into town like a make-believe steampunk that incorporates science and speculative fiction in her expressive and impressive scheme of things.

She was a real-deal quick-draw that swooped in from the heavens like a falcon to create torrents of rain, awe-inspiring water spouts and electrifying displays of brilliant light that zigzagged across a darkening sky like Frankenstein's stitches.

One of her more nail-biting scenes with happy endings took place in Orange County when bystanders rescued a trembling man from the rushing waters of a swollen river. In another action-packed confrontation with nature, four construction workers feared for their lives after being trapped inside a flooded truck near the Verizon Amphitheatre in Irvine.

And like the drama queen she enjoys being, Mother Nature even gave herself a few thunderous applauses as she exited her touring stage.

When her exceptional performance was all over, those who live in this otherwise calm neck of the woods - at least weatherwise - got a chance to breathe better and the ground with its dependent flora had its thirst quenched at a time when needed the most.

Although some homeowners and city crews were faced with the duty of removing some downed trees in the wake of Mother Nature's life-giving, good deed on Friday the 13th, everyone in her audience received a souvenir from her headlining show in the form of a picturesque sky, replete with a fresh blanket of soft snow that draped over the higher elevations of mountainous majesty.

While i-Phone users and police dashboard videos are reviewed and analyzed, this journalist also adds that no one was injured seriously in the capturing of this latest Hollywood production. For that, we say, "Bravo!"

SharonBush@me.com