Monsoon!

The toad (see previous post!) knew what he was doing.
Today, we had our first monsoon storm.

Glorious clouds, thunder and lightning. Wind. For a long long time, the smell of rain. The tease of rain. A couple drops here and there. I went back inside. Then out again to sniff and enjoy. Then in again to knit. Then out again. Then I realized I was sitting inside in the dark, knitting. It was only about 330 in the afternoon. I looked out - the rain was here. Ecstasy!

I took the dogs outside. Boo, our littlest one, doesn't like rain. Silly girl. Sugar, the smartest one, ran into the yarn wagging her tail and loving it.

The rain has stopped now, but the sky is still gray.

Rain. For the first time in six months. The wonderful wet smell of it. The mesquite trees and creosote bushes letting off their happy rain smell.

Ahhhh. :))

Rainbow

It's been a difficult summer. Lots of challenges. Is this a sign that there is something better on the horizon?

Or are more storms on the way?

The clouds cleared a bit, for now.

Before the storm

Monsoon season in the desert is incredible. I've posted about this before - but as long as monsoon season is here, I'll be posting about it again! The storms have the most incredible beauty, and force. 2 inches of rain fell in 20 minutes during the storm last night. At least, in my neighborhood. You can live 5 minutes away and get nothing, because the rain comes down in rain shafts. I'll get some pictures of that soon, promise. And the lightning! Quite a few people have been struck by lightning in recent weeks, including one 8 year old boy. Tragic and scary and terrifying to realize the power of the storms.

Here are some pictures, about 1/2 hour before the storm made it's way to our house. The mountains you see are the Tortolitas - we live in the foothills of that small mountain range.

It was just after sunset.

Monsoon!

Our last spring and summer in Philadelphia, it rained 18 weekends in a row. We were happy to leave, and come to a land of endless blue skies and sunshine.



Blue skies and sunshine can get really OLD, after a while.



Ecstasy. The monsoon season has come to the Old Pueblo. !! I LOVE it when there are clouds in the sky. It breaks up the monotony.




But yesterday, the clouds REALLY built up. Late in the day, it started. Lightning, thunder. You can see rain shafts, off to the west. You know it's raining, over there. You wait and hope for rain where you are. The first few big drops, then it rolls in. Thunder, Lightning, RAIN. I sat outside, on my porch, and reveled in the smell of the rain. My drought stricken trees reveled in the wetness.

These pictures of the lightning over the city of Tucson, were taken by stickb0y7, you can find him on flickr. Used with permission. Amazing.

So, for now, I'll sit back and wait for the next storm. Impatiently.