Our “winter in the desert” sojourn is rapidly coming to a close. Before the week is out we will be home in western Wyoming where, I’m guessing, the aspens have yet to leaf out. It hasn’t begun to be hot here on the eastern edge of the Mojave, but we did see low 90s - quite comfortable with low humidity - a couple of days ago.
We make the 500+ mile drive north in an easy two days, and visit friends in the greater Salt Lake area en route. All but the last 100 miles are straight up I-15 at 75-80 mph. The only traffic of consequence will be in Salt Lake City where we’re likely to arrive around afternoon rush hour, alas.
We both have a bit of hay fever that acts up this time of year. We will get to sniffle with the spring allergies all over again up north. It’s not that the blooming season has ended here, all our flowering plants are still very much in bloom, which has yet to happen in the high country.
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Later ... I wrote the foregoing before being outside, believe it or not it is actually raining here today. No wind, just a gentle rain that is more than a rain cell shower. The other DrC observes this is what the Navajo call a "female rain," as prized over in the "four corners" region where they live as here where only three states meet.
An oddity to my eyes, this arid community has amazing, elaborate flood control infrastructure in place. I've never seen it in use, maybe I never will. When they get a rip-snorter of a thunderstorm it can flood, and the flood control stuff makes sense even if it's only used every 20 years or so.
