Lots of people in the Tucson area have been praying to get a real monsoon storm with lots of rain to fill the underwater aquifer and help restore the Santa Catalina Mountains from the Big Horn Fire damage of last year. The mountains were a dull grey brown from the burned vegetation. They looked shrunken and sad.
But then last Friday they got prolonged hammering of rain over the afternoon and evening (we got 1.03″ in fifteen minutes) and “BOOM” they sprung back to their lush beautiful self.
So God heard the outcry of the desert dwellers and said ‘hold my beer!” and it was fabulous and scary.
Areas of Tucson got hit with heavy rain and super strong winds, and there was even a land spout tornado spotted and photographed. Along with this was some wind damage. Hubby and I remarked that we can water plants, run the sprinkler and the yard will struggle, but one – just one – big monsoon rain will change the dull, dry, brown color to me and God’s favorite color – green.
I caught video of the storm just as it hit us, and it was a deluge. This is looking from my back porch.
While I sit here, thinking, I have a video playing of the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine. Ogunquit is my spirit place, the place I dream of living, the desire of my heart locale. I visited it once and it left it’s indelible mark on my psyche.
Marginal Way foliage.
Such beauty, color, texture, vibrancy and history.
Me in Perkins Cove, Maine
For a reluctant desert dweller videos of this kind help my mental and emotional escape.
🌊💚🏊♂️🏄♂️
We are in the height of heat here. Normally, June tends to be the worst for us heat wise, however this year, 2020 – the year from hell, it hasn’t been that way. Typical weather for summer (laughs at the irony – SoAZ is a place with a nine month summer) June is hot, boiling, melting, followed by July which is hot but has nearly daily monsoon rains, then August which is hot and continues monsoon season rains into September.
But not this year! Yeah June was hot and dry; July was hot and dry; and now August is burning and mercilessly dry.
Anyone need a seaside care taker for their house? Can I bring my books?
Can I get a lobster roll?
Maine Lobstah roll, fresh that morning.
Yes, chips please. The cutest teenage girl served me and told me her dad brought in the lobster that morning. So, so good. Pretty sure I would be completely happy living where I could get fresh sea food daily.
So what’s new? Got a new (to me) desk from our local amazing thrift store The Golden Goose, hubby is refinishing it in a lovely dark chestnut and I am purging the office. I like purging the office😁. This new desk will replace two pieces from the office, with lots more storage, and will be put in my library. The room I’m in now will be just for sewing, crafts, and voice-over work. I’ll post pics once completed.
We will see how desk sharing works for hubby and I, well I hope, since we often aren’t working at the same time. The biggest issue will be keeping the desk clean. I am a clean desk-everything in it’s place person. Years of office admin jobs have made me this way. I like things filed, in folders, organized, labeled, and stored. If I need to find it I want to go directly to where it is. Hubby – not so much. He likes piles and stacks. No clear surface is safe from his stuff.
It’s such a thrill when people you don’t even know start commenting on your work. I published an excerpt from my book “Blame It On Whiskey” to my author page on Facebook and the comments have been so wonderful. To hear from people who have connected with my characters and enjoyed the fictional world I created is amazing.
As my last blog post indicated I have been sort of out of communication while my daughter was here with my soon to be grandson. I consider him my grandson already and introduced him as such. Boy did he keep us going, but it was great fun. I had my DVD’s rearranged (evidently I didn’t set them up right) and all the glass lids and pans were moved so he could play with the metal pans. You had to watch where you walked because some of those toys are painful on bare feet! Most of the house was toddler-proofed prior to his arrival, but you never know what he can get into or is interested in until the little human occupies the space.
He and Millie became buddies, lots of puppy kisses between them, and Millie was extremely happy to clean up the post meal droppings around the high chair! After I dropped them at the airport Monday and came home the house was quiet. No Disney Junior or Sprout blaring from the TV, no big humans tracking the movements of the little human, no little voice calling out and babbling at the top of his lungs.
It was different. I miss him.
The monsoon season is upon us in Southern Arizona thank goodness. Our location in Catalina AZ just north of Tucson, higher in elevation, and next to the Santa Catalina mountains means we are cooler and get great storms. Woke up this morning to a wet yard and signs of some wind during the night. The storm didn’t wake me since that stuff works like Ambien on me, as long as the wind isn’t too strong.
Now back to my next book, current book marketing, some plot development for future work, more blogging, wine, chocolate and music.
June is almost gone and the seasonal monsoon is nearly upon us here in southern Arizona and we’ve had a few teaser storms and sprinkles. It is the time of the year that we actually have weather.
I love weather. I love anything that nature throws at us. I’m pretty sure it is because we lived so many places and experienced so much variety in nature.
Humans cannot control nature. It ain’t gonna happen. We can’t predict it, transform it, alter it or have any positive impact. In fact when humans have tried we have managed to bungle it and make it worse. The only positive humans can manage is preparing for nature body-slamming us. Humans have tried to design earthquake/tornado/hurricane “proof” structures to limited success and yet when these disasters occur our efforts are usually humbled by natures truly awesome strength and power.
I am not making light of the losses of those caught in the onslaught of a natural event. My heart goes out to those who lose family and possessions. Yet the cries of unbelief at the destruction of a tornado or earthquake in the places where these things are a fact of life don’t make sense. I know that tornado’s will happen in “Tornado Alley” and earthquakes will happen on the San Andreas fault. Hurricanes will form in the warm waters of the oceans and move a certain direction pushed by prevailing winds. Blizzards bringing heavy snowfall and snowmelt flooding will happen.
What I don’t know is why humans live in these places and expect a result contrary to the norm for the location. Is this insanity? You know doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Southern Arizona gets nasty hot in the summer yet this heat is part of the monsoon engine that brings the afternoon thunderstorms to this part of the state. These storms can be deadly with flashfloods and lightning strikes.
Where I live the monsoon season leads into the slow cooling down time of fall. I look forward to it because I know if I endure it will cool off. 100’s can happen into early October, but they aren’t a daily occurrence like June.
A personal note: Chuck’s company is transferring him to the Midland, Texas site. It is a closer drive and it never gets -40.
