snow, wind, rain and more snow...

We've been having some nasty weather here in the lovely Southwestern US. We live in the high desert, and contrary to popular understanding we DO get some snow (which is usually gone in less than a day, and I personally like it that way...) We get our share of rain, enough usually to keep desert flora and fauna alive, and we get a LOT of wind, because our high desert valley is, for the most part, a huge expanse between the mountain ranges. In fact, WIND is something you just have to learn to live with, if you are going to live in any part of the beautiful SW.

Having started with that description, the last week has been kind of crazy, weather wise, around here. On Monday and Tuesday the weather was typical, sunny, a bit nippy, breezy, and clear... simply put, it was BEAUTIFUL. So while out running some essential errands with hubby, we took a very quick detour to a lake close by, so that I could load up my camera with pictures of some beautiful scenery and stunning close-ups of AZ beauty... (without getting in a car, because not only am I still sick and coughing, I really don't want to get on the roads in bad weather...) I barely left the vehicle, but it was nice to focus my camera's eye on the lovely vistas that make up our corner of the world. I had fun just snapping scenery while we were moving very fast along the highway.

Then, everything changed. It was as though the whole of AZ was magically transported to another part of the country. Over the next 3 nights we were hit by back to back storm systems that brought tons of very cold precipitation... Flooding, road closures, mud, rock, and snow slides are happening more and more each day since the weather change. Each morning for days, people unaccustomed to it ~ have been waking to white lanscapes and treacherous roads to maneuver. Schools had to close because we don't have the equipment necessary to clear even the main roads fast enough to assure safety for the children. Local colleges closed for the same reason, and ~ or because crossing the campus was dangerous to healthy limbs walking on shoes not meant for snow and ice covered concrete. Fender benders and vehicles slide offs have become the sad reality for too many local motorists... A couple of days ago some roofs collapsed in a town 90 miles northeast of us. It's just in many ways so nasty, and something most people here see a lot less often than in other places. So, it's something to "write home about"... Even though we ARE grateful for the precipitation, HONEST, it's time for us to be returned to our lovely normal weather conditions.

Of course during this tme period, there was also the joy of "snow days" for students and teachers, who got time off to play... and there is the beauty of the moment, when the white landscape is so pleasing to the eye... I caught some of that beauty around my part of our small community and also added those pictures to my project 365, if you are interested they will be posting over the next few days.

So when I woke up this morning to even more snow, I wasn't shocked... I'm just ready for our milder AZ weather to return to us, and soon please... I have it from some reliable sources that Oregon and Washington have been enjoying our normal weather this week, but as much as I love you guys... we want it BACK..! ha ha ha