The end of Monsoon

Every year about this time in Southeastern Arizona we prepare for a farewell. The climate patterns that bring us regular monsoon rains begins to fall apart and it becomes hot and dry once more here in the Arizona deserts. We have been blessed this year to have a very wet monsoon and the hills and valleys are green. The multitude of greens are a feast for the eye, from the deep glossy green of the Emery oaks to the yellow blush of buffalo grass along the roadways. It is green in Arizona this year.
But although we are still blessed with rain the cusp of rainy season has passed. The leaves of the ocotillo are beginning to yellow and the cottonwoods have lost that glossy look. Fall is on its way. We may have to pass though a blast furnace for a few weeks first but it's downhill from here.
We have gotten some unhoped for moisture from a tropical storm know as Julio and based on the predictions Julio's moisture will keep us cool and wet through the Labor Day weekend.





All this good news aside these weather patterns make for incredible skyscapes.

IR

I have a new toy. No wait I mean tool. I had an older DSLR modified to infrared so I am starting to look at that genre in photography. I have only had my new tool about 12 hours so I don't have much to show you yet. (don't I justify myself well?)
We have so much harsh bright light and IR is all about the light. I can't wait to produce those ghostly images with black skies and brilliant clouds. Note to self: Must make time away from working and day to day life.

Monsoon

It has been raining in Arizona. Last I heard we were at the average rain fall measure for the area and for several years now we have been consistantly under that figure. In Arizona you can say to someone 'I hope you get wet' and it is a good thing. People brag about how many days it has been since they have needed to water their gardens.
Last weekend my granddaughter and I went to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for a bit of a walkabout. This museum is outside of Tucson about 100 miles northwest of Bisbee. Being natives to the area we didn't stop to take advantage of the instructive stops, many of which are manned by a docent. One area we did spend a bit of time in was the cactus display as my grandaughter wanted to get a photograph of a cross section of a saguaro. The woman working the stop was very friendly and knew us as locals as soon as we commented on how fat the cacti were. As the rain is taken up by the cactus it swells causing the ribs to spread. You can carefully reach into the space between the ribs and pet the cactus getting a feel of this tough, rubbery but smooth skin.

The desert has many susprises including grasslands that can be almost marsh like in a good rainy season. We get gifts such as this one which I call Monsoon's gift