I've been in West Central Oregon now for five years and this is the first time I've seen so much green grass at this time of year, not to mention leaves that don't make a crispy crinkling sound when stirred by a breeze -- a Mediterranean climate is mind-blowing to someone from east of the Mississippi. Also, it's the first year I haven't smelled smoke in the air or seen the haze from distant wildfires. We got some decent rain (will see how flooding goes this winter!).
However, they're not so lucky in California, and it looks like they might have another big wildfire prevention blackout
this weekend. PG&E is taking a lot of criticism for these, but after the
Camp Fire (and others, I think) they're not taking chances. Seems there should be some more middle-ground solution, though.