Our monsoon season has been spectacular this summer. We desperately need rain all over the Southwest and California. Marshall stuck his nose on my pillow about 4 this morning, and directly afterward the bedroom was lit by a bolt of lightening. That dog knows his stuff. Ordinary humans roll over and go back to sleep, but dogs want to run and cower at the same time. I usually get up around 4:30, so this was no big deal. I put the coffee on and puttered, but the storm didn't let up until after 6. I'm usually out walking by 5:15. When it was down to a misty drizzle, I convinced the boys that they could go outside, and I'd go along for reassurance. Naturally, I had to take some pictures. These are raindrops on the mesquite.
Time to feed my furry friends and convince them that it was okay to be alone while I went for my walk. As you can see the park has minimal drainage, and this is what it generally looks like after a good rain.
I had been wanting to take these two pictures below for some time. These are cacti growing in a rain gutter. There are two big pine trees nearby and they drop their needles into the gutter and the local birds deposited some seeds and this is what you get.
Fresh from the cleansing rain, this flower couldn't help but be a beauty. It seems to be a relative of the Ceres, but I'm not sure.
Maybe I'll take a picture of my weed crop before I get serious and decide to pull them. That's really going to be a job, but we have more rain predicted and it's silly to start before the rain is done. Oh, the trials of living in the Southwest.
