It’s pretty muggy out today, which is very unusual for here, except during monsoon season. Last weekend we got over 2 inches of rain. Usually a “good” monsoon brings 2.77 inches. While I’m certainly not complaining about rain, it is not pleasant to be outside.
After my latest doctor’s report I broke down and hired someone to mow my lawn this weekend. He’s here now and the dogs are going crazy. I reminded him (twice) that when I was feeling better I would be taking over again and so not to mow again without checking with me. He’s done with the front and side and it looks great.
It’s been an emotional week. I’m looking forward to regaining some equilibrium this weekend.
It probably won’t be this cool again until late October. The rain is a welcome sight as well, although the boys are driving me crazy. They can’t decide if they want to be inside or out. I put them out, which is fine until it thunders, which it’s been doing regularly over the past two hours. Luke either barks like crazy at the thunder or scratches at the door until I let him in. *sigh*
I could smell it before I heard about it or saw the smoke from the fire burning on this side of the valley. This picture is from yesterday before it got considerably larger thanks to the wind. The news reports indicate a lightening strike started it; we certainly didn’t get any rain along with the lightening. After their experience last week, the boys were very reluctant to go outside this morning because of the smell. I don’t blame them at all.
While he’s happy to be in the house, Cotton still refuses to come near me. He does this everytime I’m gone for a few days. Luke, on the other hand, has been at my side since I returned home.
The burned tree is being removed today. My neighbors were a little irritated that I took a picture of it, but since I did it from my side of the fence, they’ll just have to live. I’m not sure why they waited until 11 a.m. to start it either, but that’s their business. (It was 96F at 8 a.m.)
I watched No Reservations and Juno earlier today while I was doing laundry and cleaning a bit. Since they irrigated yesterday instead of Tuesday as they normally do, mowing is out of the question for this weekend. Irrigation yesterday is also why I’m cleaning “a bit” since evertime the dogs come in they track in dirt with them.
I’m in Flagstaff for a work-related conference. (Yay for the 61F temp this morning!) I’m actually sitting with the balcony door open, enjoy the cool breeze and the sounds of nature this morning. While I’m not a big fan of conferences per se, I am thankful for a weather-reprieve, although I miss the dogs.
One of my friends is taking care of the dogs for me and he’s been very patient with my calls and worrying about them. I was horrified yesterday afternoon to get a call that the neighbor kids, and their friends, had set the tree in their backyard (next to their wood fence and one of my trees) on fire! My friend smelled the smoke and got the hose to make sure that my tree was safe. He also instructed them to get their hose and work on theirs while they waited for the fire departement to arrive. No one was hurt, and all my dogs are safe, but I can only imagine how frightened they were, especially Lucy. The neighbor kids? Apparently they were most upset by the fact the police insisted on calling their parent at work because they were going to be in trouble? *sigh*
It’s probably good that I’m here until Friday afternoon.
I heard that monsoon season has “officially” begun. While it used to be determined by the dew point staying above a certain level for three days in a row, some weather powers-that-be decided to give it a date range instead. All I know is it’s hot, and while usually the feel like temperature is less than the actual temperature, that hasn’t been the case the past few days, no doubt thanks to the dew point and maybe the humidity.
One of my friends says that no one moves to Phoenix for the summer weather.
The biggest problem in the summer is keeping safe in the heat. A friend and I hiked yesterday morning, leaving at 6:30 a.m., and by the time we were coming down 90 minutes later, the temp was already well above 90F. I was amazed by the hiker we passed going shirtless, knowing full well what the sun was going to do to his pasty white chest and back and how quickly it would do it.
Last night I decided to mow because I had something else I wanted to do early this morning. Now, I know that the best time to work outside is the early morning because it really is the coolest time of the day here. Throwing all common sense to the wind, I went out anyway at 5:45 p.m. (after it had cooled off to 105F) to mow. I took lots of water/rest breaks, but still found myself feeling the after-effects today. I won’t be doing it again anytime soon.
All in all, though, I really do enjoy the weather here, even in the summer. It begins to be light out around 5 a.m., and it stays light well past 8 p.m. The hours in the morning are perfect, as I sit out back, reading the paper, drinking coffee, and watching the hummingbirds flit around the flowers and feeder. The dogs wrestle, run, and play with wild abandon until they wake the neighbor’s dogs. The neighbor’s puppy invariably squeezes through their fence to stop by for a drink of water and some love, and all is right for those precious moments of quiet.
The whole tomato-salmonella news baffles me. I suspect it will end up being a situation similiar to what caused problems with spinach and lettuce previously. I’m just thankful that I’m growing my own. Of course I only actually get to eat one for every three thanks to the dogs, but I guess it’s good to share.
