A refreshing change

Usually spring is a reason to celebrate, flowers blooming, and trees are getting their canopy of green. Good times to say the least. But ... In  the deserts of Arizona this only means the heat of summer is just around the corner. I think we all tolerate the heat of summer, but not excited about sweating our ass off. The rest of the year is wonderful,and this winter has been no exception.We have had a wonderful winter, much colder than usual and much wetter. Snow pack has been huge this year, and all dam's around the valley had to release water down stream. There are signs the long term drought is over, but we know this is a desert for a reason.

 Standing out along the river bank of our normally dry "salt river" its nice watching the water flowing, kind of soothing actually. I can only imagine what this river looked like before we turned this river vinto a wasteland. I have been told that years ago Cotton wood trees lined the river bank. Lush green grass and plenty of shade was every where. Families would  load up there wagons and spend the day enjoying the cool water and the desert oasis. I see why  why people were drawn to this valley if nothing else for that! But that was an easier time ..nothing but memories.

Just looking out my back door this morning, I could see Shawe Butte to the Southeast, shrouded in low clouds, and off to the East Moon Mountain had a crown of clouds as well.  I could imagine standing here just a 100 years ago, looking up at the same view, without buildings light poles, and electrical lines this would have been a beautiful sight. Sometimes progress is not a good thing. All the recent rains have turned the dingy desert brown into a sea of emerald green. The smell of the desert has changed as well, nothing like the aroma of a desert after a rain. I noticed that water is actually flowing in normally dry washs and creeks for the first time in years. 

Even though the intense heat of our summers will soon take a strangle hold, everyone needs to get out and enjoy this time of year,wild flowers should be in abundance as well. A carpet of color as if an artist was using the desert floor as a canvas! A lot of wonderful photo opportunities await in just about every direction you go from the Phoenix metro area. Just take your camera and GO !

Eventually the summer will take hold, the green will turn into brown, the Rivers will dry up and the rains of 2009/2010 will be a distant memory. I have taken this experience in like a sponge, on day trips to no place in particular, hikes into the hills and trails around the valley, train ride into the Verde Canyon, chasing snow flakes in Prescott and hanging out in shops in Jerome. I have photographed the Four Peaks with it's crown of white,  Eagles on their nest, and desert lakes.  I have talked and visited with some wonderful friends, and met a few more who all have stories to tell along the way. Yes this has been a very good winter .. we are truly blessed.

Thanks everyone ....

Have a wonderful day   =)

Rick Delaney

Earthquakes ....

I think about things a lot, from earthquakes to aliens, weather to sunbathing on a nude beach, and from getting my nails done to what will we have for dinner. Now I was kidding about the nails getting done though. Sometimes you just have to throw out things like that from time to time, to see if anyone was paying attention. I have been fascinated with earthquakes, tectonic plates, super volcano's and the chaos it generates. It is amazing to me just how fragile, and at the same time how resilient our world is.

I do actually have an earthquake website I visit and an E-mail notification service to be one of the first to know when the big one strikes. Being one of the first to know, even though I imagine those lucky people at "ground zero", would have the slight advantage in the notification department. I witnessed an earthquake years ago, well found out later that it was, let me explain.

My wife and I spent a few days with other family members in a little town called Idylwild California, a beautiful town actually, elevation 7,000 ft. From the top of this mountain you could walk out to the edge of the property and look down upon the valley below. On a clear day ( free of Los Angeles smog)  you could see the Pacific ocean glimmering in the distance. The cabin was one of a kind, and in order to gain access, you had to walk over a little bridge onto the porch of the second floor. Not like a lot of cabins this one was octagonal, with a huge fireplace as the center piece. The lower floor contained the bedrooms, and each elevation was surounded by a wrap around porch. This was a place you could deffinatley hang out especially during the summer. It was a small  town with it's quaint shops and restaurants, pine trees, and secluded enough so you could actually just sit back and relax.

Our bedroom was very cozy, queen size bed, wood paneling, nice picture window, and a huge down filled comforter on the bed . If you took that same comforter and covered your head with it, no one would know you were there until they sat on you. On those cold mornings you would hesitate to climb out of the warmth and onto the cold wooden floors. We  enjoyed our quiet time and wasn't in to big of a hurry to join the rest of the family out in the kitchen on most mornings.

When my wife and I finally made it out to where the family was, all of them wanted to know if we felt that earthquake? "what earthquake"? They all looked kind of puzzled at My wife and I, and we just shrugged our shoulders. My father in law couldn't understand how we didn't feel the cabin shaking, and hear the boulders tumbling outside. I told my wife later I thought it was just us. she just smiled and told me not to say a word.

have a nice day 


Rick Delaney

Weather or not ...

After all that rain we have had in the last couple of month's, the weather has become somewhat benign. Temperatures were in the low 80's today with an occasional wispy cirrus cloud passing overhead. I would have liked to see the warmth of spring come just a little later this year.

Having all this rain and so much at one time is a novelty for us desert dwellers. To the right is a map of our yearly rainfall totals beginning in 2006. As you can see, we seem to have rain early on, and now until the Monsoon season we basically flat line. It is not unusual to show no significant amounts of precipitation for long stretches.

What is interesting, our official Phoenix rain gauge at Sky harbor International airport, has not received more than eight inches in the same span. I'am sure that orographics, and a slight elevation difference has some effect upon our rainfall totals. Maybe because our home is farther north by almost 15 miles from city center plays a role.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Rick Delaney