Fall Comes to the Desert

It's a beautiful Fall day in Corona de Tucson, Arizona.  I spent the morning carving on my gourd beneath a warm sun.  The days are getting shorter now, although at our latitude, the seasonal variance in daylight hours versus nighttime hours is negligible.  At the Summer Solstice, the sun rises here at 5:15 a.m. and sets around 7:45 p.m., giving us about 14 hours of visible light.  At Winter Solstice, the sun rises at 7:20 a.m. and sets closer to 5:30 p.m., providing about 11 hours of visible light.  When I lived in Virginia, the days seemed longer with the sun setting around 8:30 p.m.  But the days of winter felt darker; the sun would set around 4:45 p.m.

Only Costa's and Anna's hummingbirds are at my feeders now.  They will remain with us all winter.  On the rare nights that we have below 32 degree weather, I'll wrap the birds' feeders with Christmas lights to keep them from freezing.  The hummers really need their nectar in winter, when the cooler weather requires more energy to keep warm.  There are also fewer flowers available.  Yet we still have some, including lantana and fairy duster.

Football season is here, a time I love.  There's also the World Series.  Just the sound of the games are comforting; they remind me of holidays spent with my grandparents.  My grandfather, Daddy Mel as we called him, loved baseball and football, including college games.  To me, Fall is a time to enjoy these sports, even though I'm only an observer.  It is still fun to root for the home team, to wait for that next play which may or may not lead to a score.

I'm beginning to get into the holiday mood, even though it is still early.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorites, and I look forward to continuing traditions I've created for my family.  I can do without Halloween, though.  I'm not in to monsters and gore.

The setting sun is really painting our mountains now, in mauve and pink and purple.  The sky blazes with reds and oranges as the Fall sun sinks slowly into night.  Our windows are open, and the fresh night air lets in the desert night sounds, especially the coyotes rejoicing in a meal or simply because they like to howl.  This is a special time of year full of anticipation and hope.