Summer is Ending???

    It's hard to believe that summer will soon be over. Here in the part of Arizona where I live we haven't even had our monsoon rains.  We've had excessive heat warnings for days and days. Our skies should have looked like this:

     Instead its been hot and dry.  For the entire year we've only had 3.70" of rain.
Whether we'll get some rain between now and September 30, the official end of the monsoon, remains to be seen.
   
    But while the end of September may be the official end of the monsoon, the unofficial end of summer is Labor Day.   And Labor Day is fast approaching.  It's only about 14 days away.  Schools, which used to start right after Labor Day, started here last week.  The calendar does seem to be spinning faster and faster.

     According to Etsy, Labor Day is now a big shopping event. School supplies and new shoes were always bought at our house around this time of year.  But the experts say other items are in demand today.

      To mark the occasion, Etsy is sponsoring a sale event and encouraging shops like mine to participate.  So I am. 

       Beginning August 30 I'm offering 10% off of summer items in my shop.  You'll find summery floral earrings as well as bracelets in bright colors.

     Click on the shop sign on the right to go directly into Desert Dabbler Handcrafted Jewelry.   Hope you'll find something you like!

       In the meantime, send some rain our way.
     

A Rare Event - Rain

        Yesterday it rained for the first time since December 20.    That's a long time, even by Arizona standards.     It was even more unusual because it was an all day, soaking kind of rain.    The kind that gardeners love.

       Usually we'll have violent, hard rains that obscure the road and soak you to the bone if you're unlucky enough to get caught in them.    Of course they do can worse than soak anyone unlucky enough to be caught in a canyon or a low lying wash area.    But yesterday's event had been forecasted for days and wished and planned for by everyone I know.    

        I took pictures of the clouds and the puddles it left behind, but Blogger doesn't seem to want to upload my pix today.    Maybe its because I've been AWOL for so long that it doesn't recognize me.    I'll try again later since rain is such a rare event here.   One that deserves to be celebrated.

 

The Unofficial Last Weekend of Summer

        
        Labor Day weekend always meant the last weekend of summer when I was a kid in Ohio.   School always started on Tuesday after Labor Day Monday.     All the schools started at the same time back then, too.   The trees wouldn't start turning red and gold until after the first frost, which might not be until late October.   Still, as soon as school started, summer was over.
         Here in the desert, summer isn't much of a treat.   Actually it's a time to leave, if you can. 
         The heat rises from mid-June until August.  Most days are well over 100F.  The really bad ones are over 115F.  You try to do all your outside work (as little as possible) early in the morning.   Same with running errands.   Then it's inside for the rest of the day.   I've made a lot of jewelry this summer in my air conditioned casita. 
         Occasionally we'll get a cool day or two where the temperature drops below 100F.  Whenever there's a little rain, like today, we get excited and frequently walk around in it.  It's very scattered, however, so not everyone will get a shower.   This morning the rain was light and gentle.
   

 

         The huge monsoon rains start anytime after July.   I always hate driving in the summer here because you never knew when a storm might pop up.      
        A monsoon storm is totally different from any rain I had seen in Ohio.  A monsoon rain comes down so fast and hard you can't see the road, or even the car, ahead of you.  The roads flood and washes fill with water. The wind howls, kicking up dust, tumble weeds, and who knows what else.   Dust storms are huge walls of dust that completely obscure the road.  They are terrifying. 
        These storms were a real problem when I was working in La Paz County and had a 2 1/2 hour commute each way.  It's very rural there and not much weather forecasting seems to go on.    More than a few times I left Parker when there were sunny skies and no hint of trouble ahead.  But the farther I drove toward home, the darker the sky would get.  I knew I was in for trouble.  
         One of the greatest things about being retired is not having to worry about driving home in a monsoon.   When you're in the city, you can always pull into a lot and park.   But in the country, there's no place to pull off.   The roads are narrow and the shoulder is frequently non-existent.    When the road gets flooded, it's very dangerous.   The water is muddy so you can't see how deep it really is, and it is amazingly swift and strong.   I don't think there have been any deaths this year, but there were last year when a few drivers tried to cross the washes.   I'm very grateful to be spending this monsoon season safely inside.
       

 

       Right now raindrops are on the leaves and the temperature is 83F .   Even though it will get hot later today, I'm going to enjoy this little break.  Summer isn't over here, but it's on its way out.