The Rain In Spain Falls Mostly On the Plain…
Oh my lordie, I am so BEHIND in my postings, but the BIG NEWS is that the MONSOON IS HERE! So the official date is July 16th–I don’t think anyone chose that day, but please correct me if I’m wrong about that! We arrived home from the palm tree farm on Monday afternoon to the rains…here is the blow-by-blow of our arrival…
first, we are still in the low desert, it’s 105 degrees, but you can see up to the rim country where we live and it’s very, very dark…full of dark clouds of monsoon. I’d know that sky anywhere…
There is a steep grade that takes about 10 minutes to climb, and equals about 1,800 feet in altitude, and the temperature fell to 80 degrees at the top…anyone ever heard that Crowded House song, “Four Seasons in One Day”? Yeah, baby!
The next shot is a picture of Black Mountain, in whose shadow sits the ranch. This is the mountain I fell in love with when we were searching for places to move. I am a bit sheepish to admit that it reminded me of the Scottish highlands…a wee bit acultural of me.
About 1/2 hour after our arrival home, the skies opened up, and we ended up with 1/2 inch of rain. In the nearby Little Cowboy City, they had 3 inches of rain, but that’s what another 1,000 feet of altitude will do for you. Here’s the now-famous shot from our front porch:
Of course, it’s now Thursday, and it hasn’t rained since Monday, but we’re still definitely in Monsoon Season–it’s only about 95 degrees, instead of 105, and the clouds are built in. We just need to bully past this giant suckhole that is The Tiny Desert Cowtown Where I Live and move in some more moisture. Also, we are on the hunt for rainbows…The Bee learned to sign rainbow this week, and I am dying to show her the real thing.
More posts to come:
+on yesterday, a day of firsts for The Bee: first green pepper; first mushroom; first walk barefoot in the grass; first swing; first slide. (Which brings up another point: can someone who knows how to embed a video in Wordpress, please tell me what the secret code is???? PLEASE? I have video I’d like to share.)
+on the meeting with the grandparents last weekend…
+on the general despair of the really low desert (117 degrees in the shade, people…)
+on my beloved hubby’s weird obsession with living on top of a slogheap of a hill in the middle of nowhere in the godeffingawful desert…
+on lactose intolerance…and soy…and eggs…and maybe blueberries and strawberries, too…
+on the impending trip back east to meet the OTHER grandparents, on an airplane, next week…
stay tuned….
Rain rain, go see the Bee!
She’s allergic to all that? Uh oh.
Comment by: Cavatica - 07.19.2007 - 5.57 pm
When are you going East? OmegaMom & young’un arrive at my place on Saturday, where they will stay until Aug.2, when they, plus cats, fly to (ugh) Alaska. Perhaps a meeting of two little girls could take place somewhere in the interstices…
Comment by: Julie - 07.19.2007 - 6.35 pm
Yay! Finally!
We came to understand the true meaning of the words Monsoonal Flow today. We had such a storm. Unbelievable. There was a huge mudslide in the interstate. John got stuck in traffic for three hours. The house is OK. I ran around unplugging various electronics because we had a doozy of a thunder/lightning show. The trees got rid of some unnessesary needles, my basil did NOT like the hail and all the pets and the kid decided that they needed to be right next to me for about two hours.
Comment by: christie - 07.19.2007 - 7.06 pm
At last!
Can’t wait to hear the further adventures of Ms. Bee!
(And as a side note, to see you cry like a little girl when I tell you what all American celebrity lives down the road from me whose presence will give me the millions of points I need for my village to wipe the floor with your town).
Comment by: Maia - 07.19.2007 - 7.39 pm
Can’t wait to here more, especially about the Bee’s first walk barefoot in the grass. I’m Wordpress, too, but I first post my videos to youtube or google video, then embed them that way. Let me know if I can help. I’m glad you’re back. xo
Comment by: walternatives - 07.19.2007 - 9.07 pm
Wow, lots of firsts! Can’t wait to read about those, and I”m hoping you get the video figured out!
Comment by: Aimee - 07.19.2007 - 9.43 pm
Those pictures are dramatic, especially the one with Black Mountain and the dark skies. I can totally see the Scottish Highlands thing, if you just block out the arid scrub in the foreground. Totally. I’m glad you finally got rain and I can’t wait to hear about those little toes touching grass.
Jen/Millicent
Comment by: Millicent - 07.20.2007 - 3.23 am
Funny - we’ve been having rain here all the past week and everyone has been pretty pissy about it. So rain appears to be a sort of conditional virtue, depending on how hot you are…
Comment by: FDChief - 07.20.2007 - 6.06 am
On the allergies, can you have your dr have labs done for a full immunopanel? That is what we are doing with the girls to determine exactly what they are allergic to. Since we have no history the Dr really wants us to know vs try to figure it out.
Glad for the rain, I love rain! And good luck flying, we will be flying in a few weeks up “north” to the cape….
Comment by: Jenny - 07.20.2007 - 4.48 pm