SMELL OF RAIN IN THE EVENING CLOUDS

Technically, I do not live in the desert.

We receive enough rain to classify as "high chaparral", which means twice a year we get enough rain to keep our yuccas, mesquite and broom cactus alive.

But we receive little enough that we do refer to it locally as "moisture", not rain.

And it's more than a little bit of an event when it falls.

We're on the cusp of our summer monsoon season, and every afternoon, we look with eagerness to the gathering dark clouds over the mountains.

And we rejoice even when a few sprinkles come fluttering down.

We need the rain badly.

DANGERS OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN

I live in what is called upper chaparral in lower Arizona.


Most people call it the desert, but that really isn't correct.

We get enough rain throughout the year to have mesquite trees, yucca, grasslands and even a green green landscape a couple times a year if we get the good monsoons.

And right now it looks like the garden of eden.





But us natives have mixed feelings about this.

The more greenery, the more that will end up dead and dried and potential fire fuel

And since we still have the scars of our Monument Fire from 2011 - 31,000 acres burned - and more than just the landscape was burned.













So personally? I'd rather just settle for year-round dust and brown, barren landscape.

HUMIDITY IN THE DESERT

Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. Where I live in Arizona, our humidity can be as low as 10%.





Today it is over 50%





This obviously is nothing compared a 93-degree dew point temperature was recorded once on the Persian Gulf - a 95-degree day, with 95% humidity.





But for us desert animals, it feels like walking through water.

LET'S HEAR IT FOR AIR CONDITIONING

I like to think of myself as a advocate of warm-weather.







I grew up in Southern California - I lived in Hawaii - the ideal temp for me is always around 82 degrees.






But something blows up just a little when it gets over 100 degrees.







It's not so much sweating - I don't really mind that - it's just the blast of furnace heat that is difficult to breathe.




Today I'm grateful for the ac in our house.

LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW!

Arizona has a certain reputation.

Dry - desert - cactus - sand - and hot. Hot. And hot.

People always seem to combine the idea of the Sahara, Mojave and Las Vegas, and that becomes Arizona.

So it's interesting when people discover that yes, we have trees (mesquite, mainly, I will freely admit), snow-capped mountains, below freezing temperatures. We're not all desert.




But when actual snow falls....

Well, us Arizonians go slightly nuts.




Schools close, army bases empty early, evening activities are cancelled. And we go outside and take photos - and build mini-snowman with our children (6" tall max).

And keep our fingers crossed that everything will be closed tomorrow too.

COLORS BEYOND SIGHT

A man who works with my husband describes our little section of Arizona as being "beautiful landscapes drenched in 385 different shades of brown."

The first time we lived in Arizona, back in 1981, my husband, an Oregon native, thought this all was simply ugly desert.

Then he served six months in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the first Gulf War, and learned what real desert looks like.

Now he is able to appreciate the beauty of the high chaparral surrounding us.

This monsoon season has been very generous, and the surrounding valley looks lush and green as Kentucky.

(And this is obviously when real estate agencies take all the the photos they display on the Internet to get people from Nebraska and Wisconsin to move down here)

But I am beginning to seriously question my sanity.

We have incredible sunsets here normally, but over the past couple of weeks, I am seeing seen colors that I don't actually think exist.

At first I just thought I was being extra sensitive to the beauty, or perhaps a heightened appreciation with all the unusual greenery.

Or perhaps because of being diagnosed with glaucoma is making me simply more conscious of my sight.

But I am now seeing greens/emeralds/ chartreuse/malachite (do you have any idea what malachite? I didn't until right now - cool word)  that are brighter than regular greens - shades of purple/lilac/violet/mauve/lavender/ amethyst that I would give almost ANYTHING to have a shirt the exact same color as.

I'm either taking drugs that I am not aware of, or I am having flashbacks from drugs that I did not take when I was a teenager.

Hey, if you can come up with a better idea, I'm ready to hear it.