Rain, Rain, Go Away

Can you believe it, we had a little rain yesterday. Yes, even in Las Vegas we get rain - less than 10% of what we got in the midwest, so when we get rain here it's like driving on ice for the locals. They all slow down - well most of them anyway. When we got up yesterday morning we looked out and there was only a low gray cloud cover to see. We thought, "Well that's not so bad. It's nice to have a little cloudy weather and some rain." However, by the time mid-afternoon rolled around the comment from the front room (the alternate quilting room) was, "Where's the sunshine?" It didn't help that we had this little drizzle (or what we like to call a Las Vegas downpour) going on all day and night.

This morning we got up to another day of predicted rain showers. Thank goodness the weather forecasters in Nevada aren't any better than the ones in the midwest. As it started to clear we went out to get the last of those Christmas packages mailed and the sunshine was peaking through. As we looked east to the strip it was shrouded in a low fog that made the hotels and casinos appear as more of a distant mirage. It was sort of cool. As we looked west the mountains behind our home had a light snow covering and those further away in the Red Rock Conservation Area had snow, clouds and the like. It is absolutely beautiful to see the sun, clouds, and snow on the mountains.

By the time I left for work at noon we had beautiful cumulus clouds with breaks of sunshine coming through. Yes, living in Las Vegas with its 300 plus days of sunshine is wonderful and we certainly enjoy it.

I took this a year ago, but this is the view we often see in the winter when we
look west.

Notes, Thoughts, and Mostly Ramblings

It has been a busy start to the fall semester. I feel like I've been behind since the day classes started. We have already completed week 4 - now over 25% complete - and it was the first week I was actually at work for 5 days. Between holidays and family events it has been busy.

Some random (emphasis on random) thoughts I have had over the last few days/weeks that have little or no meaning, but then again. . . .

• We are about to see the beginning of fall in Las Vegas. That means the "dog days of summer" are almost over (see photo below). If we can put 5 days together without reaching 100 degrees then I think we will officially be in fall. We are still looking forward to the day we can keep our windows open for several nights, not just one now and then.
• I've noticed that we are anxious to get past summer the way we used to be anxious to get past winter. Now winter is just a diversion from summer.
• On the positive side, we did not turn our furnace on last year until almost mid-December.
• Even in Las Vegas if I wash my car it rains. Of course a rain here may only cover 2 or 3 square blocks, but my car always seems to be in that zone.
• Ever notice how your phone rings all week long (our's does) and on the weekend no one calls because they are busy with family or football games or whatever?
• My daughters write their blogs all week, I write mine on weekends. If I write during the week it's a clear indication I've found some free time.
• It doesn't matter how much quilting material JoAnn has, she seems to need a little more. In fact today she was cleaning out her closet to make room for her new material. Plus she purchased more storage containers to put the material in. That's okay, I love her.
• She could say the same thing about me purchasing art prints, or shirts, or shoes, or ... well you get the idea.
• We are now allowed to water only 3 days a week (September & October) and it must be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Imagine my surprise as I was sitting at the kitchen table and I heard the watering system (we use a drip line) come on this morning (Saturday). All I could see was a big fine if the water authority caught me. I ran to the garage and sure enough the "watering brain" thought it was Wednesday.

That's really about enough for now, since not much of it made sense, but gave me a chance to dodge doing work I really should be doing.

I took this photo at a scooter rally the Bradley's came down for. It speaks well for the "dog days of summer" and how we should just embrace the experience.

We've Seen Snow...Again

We have had such a beautiful winter (sorry kids), it seemed almost bitter-sweet when the temperature dropped into the 30's for lows over the last 10 days. Even more so we have experienced quite a few rain days (which of course we need). We even had a real midwestern rain day, as noted in a previous blog.


A week ago today, however, we knew rain had just passed and weather was still southern Nevada cold. We had no snow, but as I drove off to the dentist for a 7 am appointment I noticed a little snow on the front mountains, but it wasn't until 90 minutes later when I drove out of the parking lot looking west and I saw the full impact. No, it is not a Wasatch snow and it's not much good for snow caves or cross-country skiing, but it is a Red Rock snow and it is beautiful.

Go to my flickr account to see this panorama as well as other photos, or click on the photo and it will give you a full-screen (width) representation.

We feel fortunate to live so close to the Red Rock Conservation Area and to be able to go out and visit it on a regular basis. We have photos from multiple seasons, but I didn't really have any good snow photos. I was tugged to go work, but also tugged to take some photos. I rationalized, since I did have writing to do, and drove home, picked up my camera and was out the door. The photos in this blog are of Red Rock shortly after the storm and before the sun got too much hold on them. I think they are gorgeous. By the way, I did get some writing done, so no guilt.

A Mostly Quiet Rainy Saturday

It is an unusual day in Las Vegas - a quiet rainy Saturday. It feels like an Indiana spring day. The rain is soft and the sky is varying shades of gray, as opposed to the slate gray of an Indiana winter. Spring in Indiana is beautiful as the dogwoods, daffodils, and crocuses come alive and populate the woodlands.

In Las Vegas our springs come earlier, and especially this year, and typically dryer, so an Indiana spring day is a bonus. We don't have dogwoods, crocuses, or daffodils. We do have pansies and a variety of plants that bloom all winter. For us that is a real bonus. As I looked out the back window and across the partially submerged patio I see yellow, red, and lavender flowers. Several are in the early stages - especially the red ones, while others have been around for weeks.

While the midwest has suffered through an excruciatingly cold winter, we in Las Vegas have had a beautiful January with temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above normal. My midwestern friends and family call and I'm always telling them there is a 65 degree difference. However, I'm digressing.
As we sit around with daughter number 3, who is visiting, we are baking cookies, listening to a little Norah Jones and Jack Johnson (at least I am) and relaxing. We didn't do that all day, as evidenced by the photo. We were up early and I was out working on cleaning the front yard up about 7:30 am (after I had been bribed to go to Panera Bread for some breakfast goodies). I got a couple of driveway offending limbs cut off of our only front yard “real tree” and then we began to work on the yard.

You would think that a yard with NO grass and just a few desert shrubs wouldn't be much to take care of, but over the last 18 months some of those desert shrubs got big. We didn't realize how big they had become until we looked at a photo of the house when we first purchased it. Surprise! Our shrubs were totally out of control. They had quadrupled in size. In midwestern terms that means a bush 1 foot tall was not 10 feet tall. In desert terms, not quite so bad.
It was time to get serious and with daughter 3 in town we had a solid worker. Grandma and I purchased a new hedge trimmer (big one) and this morning I went to work. Okay, we went to work - all 3 of us. I was a little concerned about making noise too early in the morning until our neighbor down the street got out his 4-wheeler off-road vehicle and went up and down the street without a muffler. Okay, noise is now appropriate.
Two hours later we have 8 bags of cuttings in front of the house and it's only until Monday when the garbage man comes, but the yard looks - or at least will, great. Actually, right now it looks like a bad haircut, but when the bushes turn green and the others begin to grow back it will look great - for rocks, microdust, a few plants. The photo of me sitting and Suzanne working wasn't wholly true. I did sit, but then I did also work. Suzanne just worked harder.
All done and time to shower. We were so sweaty and smelled of sage that we just dumped out clothes in the washing machine before we took off for a little shopping. Come on - Mom, Daughter, and a driver. What more can they ask for. Although I did find Harry & David's right next to where the girls were and did a little Valentine shopping. I know, it's a week away, but I have little chance of remembering until then.

Back home to make sugar cookies and my next post will be a real treat. I downloaded a timelapse software for my iPhone and used it to take photos of the cookie baking. The girls kept saying, "What is that noise?" And them Mom couldn't find the phone/camera.

Day is done, sun is down, water is receding for a record high on our patio, cookies are made, time for some veggies! And maybe a little fruit. Tomorrow we are planning our first "barbecue" of the season. Eat your heart out midwesterners.

I call the following photo "desert zero-depth patio." For you non aquatic types that means a beach type entrance into a pool.