Can you say snow? lol! Just a light dusting but the ski area nearby has over 4 inches so far. Crazy! It's not unusual for us to get a light snow the first week in May but not this late. It's perfect timing though because my roses are finishing up their first flush and ready for deadheading anyway. Good thing since half of them are hanging on the ground. lol The tornadoes were about an hour south of us in Moreno Valley. We have several friends who live there and they said it was quite a sight. They almost thought it was a joke when they got the warning on the tv. We just don't get many of those out here and basements are almost unheard of unless you live in a very old home. And my DH experienced the CO. tornado via telephone. A business colleague had just phoned him from Greeley when the roof blew off the building he was in. He and several other guys were on the staircase and decided to stay put. Everyone was ok but DH said he could tell the guy was shaken up. Crazy and weird and COLD! Whaa! Give me back my heat wave! : ) Thanks for thinking of us all! Diana Here is a link that might be useful: tornadoes

Frieda, re your question about school assemblies and Jerusalem in particular. It used to be the law that every school began each day with a form of religious 'observance'. As far as I know this is still the case, although the large 'secondary' schools get round it by claiming lack of space/time etc. But junior schools, even the non-denominational ones, will have a couple of prayers and a hymn plus 'announcements'. And C of E and RC kids will probably attend weekly/occasional services in their local church. Of course these days, as your friend says we have become a far more 'secular' country plus we have had a huge influx of people bringing in a wide range of faiths, all of which are meant to be catered for within the 'Religious Education' systems of each school area. RE is still taught as a 'lesson' up to exam standard. That is certainly how I learnt the words and tunes of so many hymns. As far as Jerusalem goes. I feel the words don't mean much on their own but with that wonderfully confidant Victorian music, it would be difficult not to be moved by hearing it sung en masse . . . have you ever been/or heard the 'Last Night of the Proms' from the Royal Albert Hall and large parks around the UK when Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory etc are sung by the thousands in the audience? It may be considered very 'jingoistic' by the nay-sayers but it is a truly rousing sound. Below is an extract from the Last Night of the Proms. I hope it doesn't make your fillings tingle . . .luckily I, unlike millions of my countrymen have never needed any 'work' on my teeth so my head is quite amalgam-free. ;-) Here is a link that might be useful: Last Night of the Proms

I live about 60 miles south of the latest huge "Valley" fire. It is not affecting us (and the winds are blowing it in the opposite direction), but of course it is all over the news. The astounding thing to me is that this is the FOURTH huge fire in that same area (same county) this summer! The other astounding thing, of course, is the speed of how fast they move - it said on the news last night that the Valley fire burned 40,000 acres in the first 12 hours! Sounds like a Sci Fi horror movie. It burned up 2 small towns in the first 2 days. The firefighters were not even able to fight the fire the first day or so, because they were spending all of their time (as were the local police, and the CA Highway Patrol, and the Sheriffs) forcing people to evacuate who had ignored the evacuation orders. They are not amused, to put it mildly. They said that they were literally getting people out of their homes just as the fire line was approaching them. At least around here, the authorities are very reluctant to issue actual evacuation "orders" (as opposed to recommendations), so when they do, folks should pay more attention! The human capacity for denial is amazing. Anyway, the result was only one dead, but complete destruction of almost 600 homes, as of course they were focusing on saving lives before property. The weather has changed - it was over 100 degrees F, and below 10% humidity when the Valley fire raged the first 2 days. Now here, and also there, it is about 55 degrees F, and the humidity is in the high 80%, and it is drizzling. This has made it possible for them to get the fire 10% contained so far. The governor has called out the state National Guard to help, and we even have a firefighter unit which came here from Australia (I think because we both are subject to horrid fires, and the fire seasons are opposite, and both have lots of experienced firefighters, Calif and Australia have sent people to help each other in fire emergencies before). Jackie

Thanks for the reminder, I left off some things. When you borrow money to buy a car, that lender ALSO requires that you keep the car insured. So both for cars and houses, the scenario of having to continue payments on something that is destroyed and not replaced, isn't what people experience. If something is paid off, and someone chooses to not have insurance coverage (though liability coverage is required for autos), I guess I say - they made a choice to take a risk, and when risks are taken, that's sometimes what happens. I don't personally feel an obligation to provide "insurance" or reimbursement to people in that circumstance by personal choice. Renters, same deal. Deciding to not get renters insurance is a choice, choices have consequences. It's not like anyone can unexpectedly learn they live in a fire zone.