Storms come and go

 

 

Some assume that a desert means always sunshine. Well, it does a lot; but there are some surprises, which can be frustrating to those planning a golfing and swimming vacation. Oh, you can still do both, if you are a hearty soul. There are many sunny days... just hope they happen when you have scheduled your visit.

 

This winter has been cooler and wetter than many I've experienced down here. Some days had highs in the 50s (or lower) with nights hovering just above or at freezing. The desert has also enjoyed the benefits of rainy days with us measuring from 3/4" down to maybe less than a tenth. It used to be that most rain was expected during the monsoons, but they have had less rain some years than falls during the winter. More frosty nights are due later this week.

There have been some thunderstorms that livened up the night with the banging and flash of the lightning, this time between the clouds, not landing on earth.

There is a lot to do in Tucson even with storms from nice restaurants to museums. Or plan your walks or bike rides between storms. Today is quite sunny but yesterday we got rain most of the day. It is chilly either way with warmer weather due maybe in a week, but even that not remotely hot. Still, when you consider weather in other parts of the country, this can still be an improvement. It does lead to some great sunsets with those clouds.

And for those inclined to snow sports, like skiing, the mountains above Tucson have snow at the heights, and I think the ski lifts are working up there-- at least when the road isn't closed due to ice. It's pretty when driving way below to see the white on the hills.

For desert rats, like us, this winter has been welcome, but for tourists maybe not so much *s* All photos taken from our home here.

It was snowing

Living in the desert, there is one certainty-- nothing is certain. Are we in a drought? Is the weather changing or is this how it's always been-- shifting sands, so to speak. 

My experience with desert life began in 1965 and then off and on since then, where we vacationed there with our young children; and finally, in 1999, bought a small home centered on a little over an acre of desert. We didn't live there year round given we still had the livestock and property in Oregon to manage, a life to live up there, but also a place in our hearts in the Southwest. 

We still divide our time between Arizona and Oregon with no clear idea of what will end up for us in our old age... Uh wait, we are in old age, both of us turn 80 later this year. It's not that we don't recognize we are old, it's just we love two places equally but can't keep going between them forever... but we can for now.

That brief history was to establish how often we have been in the desert and seen snow falling. It's not a common thing, but it happens probably more than some imagine. Never as much though, for us, as we saw this week when the snow fell enough to turn our world here white. It's kind of thrilling to get snow when it's rare-- and when we know it won't last long. 

We had heard the predictions. Wednesday night, around 10pm, we saw it was lightly covering the ground. When we got up at 4am, it was coating shrubs and ground. Ranch Boss went out and got a few photos as we weren't sure how much more would come.

When it got light, we saw more than there had been. 3" to be approximate, and it coated everything with a glistening coat of fluffy snow. The branches on trees were bent over. As far as we could see, our world was white. More photos were taken, and now I am going to try to share some to show the details and the landscape. 

Not easy deciding which as to see the cacti with snowy caps is definitely unique. For a while, the world was light and dark. Then the sun returned to turn the sky blue as the clouds began to depart. By around 1pm on Thursday, most of the snow was gone on our property and the plants had regained their shape-- snow was only to be remembered and in photos. 

 

snow

This week, with snow as the starring event (if I don't count our first lamb being born), has seemed longer than most. Some of that might be due to the sense of isolation icy highways create. The political stuff out there doesn't help. I don't like writing about it here but do touch on various aspects in my rant blog. I want to keep this blog for creative ideas for life as well as photos. I want it to stay positive. I don't see much positive in our political atmosphere-- and that doesn't matter which side of the divide one is on. A lot of it is set up to depress or enrage. How can that be healthy?

In my writing, I have been thinking more than putting down words. I began this book in September and, after under 10,000 words, set it aside to write two feel-good novellas, Red Hawk Christmas and Sonoran Christmas. With the presidential campaign as it was, I wanted to be writing something that made me happier. A Price to be Paid (title of that book) touches on a very difficult topic and it wasn't making me feel good. I now think by waiting to write, i came up with an element of the hero's soul that I hadn't seen before. A LOT of writing happens before fingers touch keyboards or pen.

For now, here are more snow photos covering the way my world changed as the snow fell, melted some, and then fell again. This part of the Pacific Northwest rarely gets snow; so when we do, we take a lot of photos. So far it looks as though it will melt gradually enough to make flooding minimal... *fingers crossed*

Ranch Boss took moon and snow photos early Friday morning and froze his fingers to get enough shots. January's full moon is called the Wolf Moon. The reflection in the melted snow came out beautifully. With snow is one of the few full moons we've never gotten. At least he didn't get frostbite. For more about this moon, check out this link (always in my blog list) Beyond the Fields We Know. Always beautiful blog but reliably fantastic when of her moon shots.

snow falls

Snow changes a landscape into something new. Because we don't get a lot of it, in my region of the Pacific Northwest, I enjoy the snow for its beauty and the sense of isolation with which it enshrouds the farm. Watching it fall is a meditative, almost hypnotic kind of joy.

  

Next blog, I'll post some photos of hoarfrost. It's an interesting phenomena that doesn't come with every storm.

Winter Solstice

from Stencil

 

We are finally here-- Winter Solstice. From the fall equinox, the days get shorter and shorter. The sun is lower on the horizon. With the growing darkness, many of us, in the Northern Hemisphere, begin to count down the time until we will get to the shortest day, and everything will go the other direction. 

Some celebrate the end of a calendar year, which is an artificial device to help humans manage time. The real change comes with the Solstice. For awhile, it won't seem much different; but bit by bit the light increases.

To celebrate the Solstice is a very natural event and goes back into even prehistory. Some of the prehistoric ruins in the US have places that let the shamans determine the exact moment the Solstice arrives, based on the sun coming through a rock hole and hitting a precise spot. For an agrarian, hunting, and gathering population, this is important information.

from Stencil

 

Fire is an important part of a Winter Solstice celebration as a way to bring back the light. Besides parties there are other possible ways to [celebrate]. A Yule log has many traditions connected to it. Some keep a piece of it for the next Winter Solstice. Others put some of the ashes under their bed as protection (hopefully after the heat has totally gone from them).

We can spend this time to think of something new, something we want, a change in how we think, a new friend. The Solstice is an ending but also a beginning. We could spend some time thinking of what we've done. Now what comes next? The fire can help us do that if we write down these things and then put them in the fire. Concentrate on what comes next.

We've never had a Solstice party, but we might light some extra candles. Since we have frequent fires in the fireplace at this time of the year, it's not special. We have yet to start a bonfire outside-- although that might not be a bad idea since we have much to burn in the debris from the year and in a pile that has been too wet to burn. With our recent snowfall and extreme cold (for us), it might just be possible. 

farm creek

So winter is officially here-- even though it's felt like it for the last weeks. For some, with the less light, it's  a tough time, but more light is coming. And winter can be a time to do less (if it wasn't for Christmas expectations) and enjoy a quiet time.

 "Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for a home." — Edith Sitwell

We all need down times and winter gives us a good excuse to take them... unless lambs are soon to come and livestock needs to be fed... other than.

our farm in Decenber

snow in February

The reason I can enjoy, even relish a snow such as we've had this week is-- wait for it-- it will be gone sometime on Sunday. It began Wednesday, has snowed prettily most of the week off and on to accumulate on our farm maybe 8". If it was more, then I'd be worried as our biggest floods come off snow that melts fast. This amount can melt fast and should do little more than raise the creek a bit. There has been considerably more on the Cascade side of the Willamette Valley which means flooding may be a factor there.

Last year we spent December in Tucson and when we got back had missed the only western Oregon snowfall. This December the farm got a little snow. We were gone for January (loving the Tucson sunshine) and were not sure if we'd get snow once we were home. You never really know as I remember one really intense snow came in March. It's an erratic process and the weather guys have changed their minds all week for what we would get.

It's still snowing-- so that's an uncertainty for the total amount and whether flooding will be a problem as it begins to melt. We needed the moisture and I love watching it snow. The flooding part though I could do without. I am glad we are here though and not trying to get here from somewhere else.

A snow like this is a delight as it changes the whole world. Looking outside, the snow is still falling, the branches of the oak trees are highlighted (did I mention I love the looks of trees in winter with their limbs sculpturally exposed).  The ground is a pristine white. I am happy to be here, not have to go anywhere and able to just enjoy it all. Since people aren't driving any more than they must, it's very quiet with almost no traffic and definitely no log trucks. Snow is so quiet.

The photos below go from when it was first starting 'til Friday when it was coming down gangbusters all day.