July 2012: For Once a Monsoon Instead of Nonsoon

Keith took this photo while driving home after a storm.

The clouds really were green.

July 2012 has only a few curtain-calls left before August sweeps onto the calendar stage.  Here, the kids have already gone back to school (they go year-round in the Tucson area with only a six-week summer break).  The prickly pear flowers have ripened into brilliant red fruit called tunas.  Barrel cactus are wearing a wreath of orange flowers.  Coyotes are rearing their pups, and the cicadas sound like rattles on a diamondback.  By this time of year, the Sonoran Desert has usually faded into sepia tones.  The cactus have shriveled and ocotillo appear dead.  Everything is thirsty and hot.  We all talk about the monsoons and hope for a good year.  Yet the past few years have been called "non-soons" by the locals.

This July, however, has been different.  The monsoons have dominated our summer.   Rain has been abundant.  The desert is green, even more verdant than it was this spring, and the cactus are swollen with life-giving water.  The ocotillo are covered in jade leaves, and some appear to be putting up new flower spikes.   The little pin cushion cactus are brandishing tiny pink flowers.   In the time we've lived here, I have never seen a rainy season like this one.  And we can use the nourishing moisture.  Like most of the country, we've been in a drought (a statement my dad always finds funny since we are, after all, a desert).  Even deserts need water. 

Keith and I often sit inside our screened porch, watching the storms advance.  Thin, silver streaks of lightning dart both horizontally and vertically.  The thunder can be quite intimidating.  But we enjoy the show and revel in the warm, dusty vanilla scent that rain brings to the desert.

You can barely see it, but this is a double
rainbow.  We often get them
in this spot after a storm.

Of course, there are a few drawbacks to the monsoon rains.  We begin complaining about the humidity--after all, 40% is much higher than we're used to.  We don't have many bridges here, and washes quickly swallow up roads as water churns freely across the caliche-lined ground, bringing rocks and soil with it.  Drivers are admonished not to cross flooded areas because the water is moving much faster and is much deeper than it appears.  Cars pull onto a nice high spot on the side of the road, and wait for what might be hours for the floodwaters to clear.  When they do clear, they leave behind large boulders and inches of dirt that stand testament to the water's power.  Many of us, therefore, like to be home by early afternoon so that we're not caught in the fray.

The lighting before and after a storm is quite beautiful.

Despite the inconveniences, it is nice to finally see a real rainy season.  The rains cool us down from 100 degree plus temperatures, and bring soft, comfortable breezes.  We've had a green July.  Now we'll see what August will bring.