Seasons in Tucson

I cannot believe that it has almost been one month since I entered something on the blog. I guess that means that Chuck and I need to get a life. However, it does seem that the days seem full(???)

It is fall in Tucson. I know that you don't think about southern Arizona having seasons, but we do. As you know summer in Tucson is HOT...and I mean HOT! Winter can be rainy. But fall and spring are terrific. We can tell it is autumn because the mornings are cool. It is in the high 60's now in the mornings, and soon it will be in the high 50's. I am so fortunate to walk to work on most days. It is about .7 mile from our condo to the office. In the morning, I walk directly toward the Catalina Mountains, a spectacular view and something I never grow tired of. I walk the Rillito River path (description below) past a local coffee shop, Trader Joe's, across then under a bridge, through the St Philip's Plaza (where every Sunday there is a terrific farmers' market), then across the street past St. Philips Episcopal Church and I am there at the Murphey Administration Center, home of Catalina Foothills School District district office.

Although we have had hot weather recently, it will soon (like today) be a high of low 80's. EVERYONE is out of doors. Where we live in Tucson we are close to the Rillito River trail. (O.K., I admit that our rivers don't have any water in them 99% of the time.) This is where we see the community come out: University of Arizona students running, roller-blading, biking etc. middle-older age folks walking (like me) - with and with out dogs, one of the local high school's cross country teams working out (I was caught smack dab in the middle of them on one walk), and all in all just a fun and alive environment.

Winter arrives in Tucson usually in December/January with a few weeks of rainy days. Once you are a resident of Arizona you learn to appreciate any rain that falls. It is suppose to be rainier than usual this winter. Everyone is hoping that is correct, since this summer we did not get much of a monsoon. I always hope that it is nice for the holidays, as I think about the visitors who come looking for good weather. You can always tell the visitors in the winter, those are the folks that when it is 65 degrees here they are in shorts. When it hits 70 degrees in Tucson the natives pull out their sweaters and turtle-neck shirts.

Spring will bring the desert alive! It is a shame that most of our winter visitors leave before the blossoms arrive on the cactus...spectacular! or don't seem to realize that come late April there are beautiful wildflowers. It is our last hurrah before, what I fondly call, the "hot as hell" season arrives by late May.

Yep, it is autumn in the desert, and it is nice!