Tropical storm Julio

A constant drizzle has fallen since yesterday afternoon, rain brought in from Tropical Storm Julio off Baja California. It was raining when I was driving home last night after class and the drizzle was constant all night long.

I enjoy this kind of rain, the gentle kind of rain that lingers for hours. The sky is still overcast. This doesn't feel like Arizona monsoonal rains.

Ironically, there is a wildfire in Draper, Utah (south of SLC) burning. Over 200 people had to be evacuated.

Yesterday I overheard one classmate say to another "The monsoon this year won't go away!" but I am not complaining. This saves me watering in the garden, and the grass I've put down gets a strong root base for the future. (There are still bald spots in the yard, but my summer-long work in the yard to de-weed the acre of punctureweed and thumbleweed has been a success.)

It's still raining now, slowing me down in my routine for Tuesday mornings: pull weeds and prune roses until the garbage gets picked up. Then take the dogs up Ash Canyon for an hour or so (we lasted 40 minutes; I turned around when I heard someone fire his shotgun up the trail)

After the walk I drove up to the Catholic cross just south of the canyon. There's a chapel and a statue of the virgin Mary. This statue welcomes the immigrants off the mountains and many illegals trekking across the border stop there for blessings. (A few have been found dead from dehydration or hyperthermia over the years). It was my first time up the mountain chapel, but I didn't stay long because the dogs were panting hard and Sadie kept barking at pedestrians.

I pulled more weeds from around the garden after the walk, mostly tumbleweed that is about a foot across and ready to bolt upward. My hands are cut up and dry now, but I made a big difference in the yard today. I don't know why I have an aversion to wearing gloves; they certainly would protect my hands.

I am enjoying these rains. The oleanders are still in their red or pink blooms. New growth on the photinias are up and the new shrubs are also growing.

But KVOA weather said this afternoon that these rains from Julio could be our last days of the monsoon. Hurricane Gustav is off the coast of Haiti and hopefully he will bring more rain later this week to our corner of Arizona...

I haven't seen the shrubs along the perimeter so lush and green since our first winter here, in 2005. That's when I thought the young tumbleweed seedlings were small pine trees coming up and I was excited to see green plants growing in the yard.

Aaah yes, desert transplants learn quickly!