We have been settling into a routine during the last few weeks--at least, I have. Julia went back to Wisconsin for ten days for previously scheduled girlfriends' events. I've been walking the nature preserve early in the morning and sometimes at sunset.
Also playing pickleball nearly every day.
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| A new friend’s private residential court |
In Julia's absence, I sampled local Mexican restaurants with good reviews on Reddit. My favorite was St. Mary's Mexican Food, a humble takeout place where you can get meat, beans, rice and fresh tortillas for less than $8. I ate it in the parking lot, and it was delicious.
This past weekend, we entertained our first guests--friends from Wisconsin who I've known since college but haven't kept in close contact with. It turns out that they have been coming to Tucson every winter for about twenty years. Mike and Kathy were here for a funeral for a few days, but will be back again in February during which time we will no doubt be hanging out again.
Kathy was amazed at our transition to Tucson. She said, "Wow, you are desert people now." I guess we are.
I'm still scorpion hunting on most nights, but I haven't been finding very many lately. Julia thinks that's a good sign. The packrats have continued to visit, and I've been feeding the desert about once a week with the bounty from my rather large rat trap. Nothing is wasted here, and anything thrown over the wall into the desert is gone by morning.
We've had rain several times since we arrived, but it's very different than Wisconsin. Rains have been furious but short--usually over in 10-20 minutes. Most late afternoons cloud over, and we see frequent lightning. However black clouds and lightning do not mean certain precipitation like it did back home.
It's still all very new and interesting to us.
We've been checking out the local music scene. This was a blues band at the Landing.
Next week, I should have an outing to blog about. I think we will head down to Bisbee and enjoy a little higher elevation/cooler temps. This week, it will likely stay below 100 here in Oro Valley--but just barely. Still too hot to open up the windows at night. That's all the news from the Sonoran Desert.
6 comments:
It's not until you move away that you realize midwestern rain is not really "rain". When I lived on the Mississippi coast during the summer the afternoon monsoons were so heavy you couldn't see to drive, but they never lasted long. Even here where we are in Texas, when it rains, it RAINS. I had to put a water-diversion dam on the high-side of the Wife’s barn to keep the foundation from being washed out by the runoff.
It's been different, but I've enjoyed my first monsoon season.
We had a Roof Rat get caught in our Pool debris Trap, ugh! Pool Guy didn't find it, The Daughter's Boyfriend did and I thought the Pool Guy who comes Weekly should have, so will have to talk to his Boss about it.
Rats are. much bigger and uglier than the Wisconsin mice that I used to catch. The last one I caught backed into the trap and managed to get only its rear legs trapped. It was....um, quite angry at its situation, which didn't improve when I used a long broom handle to slide it into a bucket of water. After its demise, the bucket of water and the rat went over the wall to water the desert and feed its inhabitants.
Those sunsets!!!
The music scene!!!
The public pool next to the zoo!!!
And we're just getting started exploring!
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