Forecast

7 Day Forecast. June in the Sonoran Desert. And this is mild! I can *almost* (no, not really), deal with this kind of hot. It's when it gets up to 105 and above that it is totally intolerable. It's like a furnace. and yes, it's really dry. I think the humidity is about 7%. My eyes, nose, throat, skin - dry. Beyond dry. Pedicures are a medical necessity, because something happens to the skin on the bottom of your feet when you live in the desert. It gets like leather, and then cracks. Which hurts like crazy.
There are fire alerts everywhere. No fireworks for the 4th of July, 2nd year in a row.
So I limit my outside time to early morning and after dinner. Because the heat makes me not feel good. I don't know if it's my auto-immune disease, or what. But I'm sapped of energy.

Did I tell you how much I love my air-conditioning? We had to buy an entire new central AC unit; we did it in December. It works great. Glorious. My husband and I have little mini-wars about what to set it on. He likes 75. I think that's a little extreme.

What's it like where you live??

wish

wish I was a happy piglet in the sun.....

(112 degrees in tucson yesterday...)

by amberalexander, one of my very most favorite artists that I ever discovered on etsy....

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.

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Monsoon season brings out all sorts of summer-time friends. Have a visit with this guy, he was hanging out on our patio.

Tarantula.

Bigger than my hand.

My puppy was way toooo curious.

:)

Monsoon Season

Summer is hot in Tucson, Arizona. It is the Sonoran Desert. It is mystifyingly hot here sometimes. Ridiculous.

And don't believe that junk about "But, it's a dry heat!". When it's 105 degrees out, it is like an oven. And besides, in the summer, we have monsoon season. So it's humid, too.

Monsoons are completely wild and crazy storms. Thunder, lightning, high winds, hail. Tremendous amounts of rain can fall in very short periods of time. Dry washes and creekbeds can all of a sudden wash cars away. People drown every year cause they drive down a street that is flooded and get swept away. Crazy.

This monsoon season has been a big 'ol disappointment. Where's the STORMS? Where's the RAIN? It's hot and humid, and NOT ENOUGH STORMS.

We had our first one the other night. Middle of the night. I didn't get to see it. :(

THEN, finally, yesterday - RAIN. Thunder. I LOVE IT.

It was all over in about 15 minutes.

Sigh. Waiting for more.

(That's a giant saguaro cactus you see).

If I wasn't a bit worried about being struck by lightning (which also happens all the time out here), I would have been dancing in the downpour.

:)

Horse Treats!

It's HOT here, over 100 degrees most days.

Our horses like an occasional sweet treat too!

Watermelon! They love it!

From the top of the mountain

Have I ever told you how H O T it is in Tucson? Summer lasts about 6 months. You wouldn't want to see my electric bill. Our central air conditioning has broken twice this summer. I go into complete panic mode until the repairman gets here. How much does it cost? Who cares!

Well, escape from the heat is possible.

Tucson is surrounded by mountains. The biggest one is Mt Lemmon, with an elevation of 9100 feet. You can drive up there. It takes about 1 1/2 hours from my door to the top. You leave the desert at around 105 degrees (at 10am, lol), and start driving. With each elevation marker, you watch the temperature go down. Pretty soon, all the windows are open and you are hanging out the windows. You're in a forest of 200 foot tall pine trees, then aspen groves. It smells spectacular. You bring a picnic, and take a short hike. The temperature hovers in the low 70's. AHHHHHHHH

There a little town, well, you couldn't really call it a town. It's called Summerhaven.

Then you drive up the last little bit to Ski Valley. Yes, there really is a ski resort here. I think it is the southern-most ski resort in the US. And they have the chair lift open year round, for the msot spectacular ride E V E R.

We saw a flock of wild turkeys, with their babies! (didn't get a good picture of them....)

It is so peaceful. Quiet. The wind rustling in the pines. It smells glorious.

Then you get to the very tippy top. Six years ago, there was a fire that burned the mountain. Although the trees are growing back - here is where you can see the most damage, still.

And, it's always good to know that someone is watching out for you......

It's Summer

Summer in Tucson. It's going to be 105 this weekend. Dry, Hot, Windy, Hot, Dry, did I mention Hot? I may have mentioned in previous posts, we are from Philadelphia. Where it can be hot and nasty humid, but where it's so different than here.

Four years ago, when we first moved here (in JULY), our first house was in a really beautiful development. Lots of houses. Lots of kids. Right? I sent my kids out on their bikes - to the school playgound nearby. They were 9 and 11 at the time. They came back kind of soon. NO kids anywhere. And absurdly hot. Back home, no matter how hot and icky, you could ride your bikes around the neighborhood and meet up with tons of kids. There were kids everywhere. Not here, not outside. Know why? It's too HOT. Isn't that insane? So we were here for a month or so, that first summer, and my kids never saw another kid. Back in Philly, you could ride your bikes all over the place. Then stop at Joe's market (neighborhood market) for ice cream, or penny candy. Yep, even today. Then ride your bike to the township pool, which everybody joined for the summer. Not here, most people have their own pools. If you want to take swimming lessons, you can sign up at the township pool, but nobody goes there just to hang out.

It's weird to me. Strange. Even after four years here. I don't even know most of my neighbors. I think we all feel sort of ... isolated? Lonely. And Hot.