I want some coffee!

Every year I go through this anxious anticipation. "When are they ever going to start?!" Then that is followed by something like "when will this ever end?!" It's kinda' like how they joked about it in circa 1950s USMC: "there are only 2 good duty stations: the last one and the next one!" In the mean time life plods on and grocery prices rise faster than Social Security checks. A few years ago the Admiral was paying something like $100 - $175 for the week's food & necessities from Safeway. Now she's paying about $400 for the week. Yikes! And no, we aren't eating a different mix of food: we've been on a (sort of) vegetarian regimen since October 2013- it's called a pescatarian diet: veggies plus cold water fish (like salmon) once or twice per week.  Update: The Admiral shopped at Safeway today (23 Jul 2026). Sockeye salmon was $27/lb. They don't even carry king salmon. King salmon is caught of the coast of California and ...

 ... but the truth is that summer sneaked in the back door about 6 weeks ago. But then this is Southeast Arizona and the weather gets to do whatever it wants. We've had days over 100° for weeks now. But it hasn't been unbearable as long as we can stay inside and hug the air conditioner during the hottest part of the day.  I managed to catch a few nice sunsets (mostly!) from the back of the lot. That area faces North (-ish) and the sun is setting in the Northwest these days. Conveniently there's no one currently staying in that lot so I have a clear shot out to the trees on the North edge of the park.   And this shot is off to the South-southwest (Mexico is about 60 miles away). And then there was the surprise T-storm. What a welcome break in temps as our Davis weather station said it dropped from about 95° down to about 75° in something like 20 minutes. It was a one-time event so it's not yet monsoon season... but it was a hopeful sign! Bit of a fast moving river out th...

 ... but we have about 2 weeks to go. So knock it off with the thermostat-fiddling, ok?! We had a sprinkle of rain this Monday morning. One of those head-fakes that's supposed to trick us into believing monsoons have started early. Not gonna' work folks! We've been fooled too many times. Summer and monsoons start in early July (if they start at all!) and no amount of wishing will change that. I'm confident I'm right cuz I've tried the wishing thing before and it just doesn't produce much moisture. It's been warm enough that we've been running the AC. A lot. Including at nite. But if I'm honest the AC hasn't run after 11:00 PM yet. But we're ready for it! The Admiral got this pre-dawn shot beyond the adjacent development.   Odd cloud effect. Kinda looks like smoke but it's not. We've had some really attractive cloud formations.  

 ... but so far we haven't been plunged into the fires of hell we call "Summer" here in Southeast Arizona. Well why would we?! It's still Spring?! And a very pleasant Spring it has been. Temps have been very comfortable and no overnight freezes. And not much in the way of clouds during the day, but I did manage a couple shots to give the viewer the feel for what we see here... Looking Northwest from the rear of our lot at SKP Saguaro Co-op in SE Benson, Arizona Some moisture falling to the South of us but it never reached the park. The timing for a very red sunset like this shot is very difficult as it lasts only a few seconds .   SKP Saguaro Co-op is starting to look like a ghost town. Yeah, there are over 100 lots with residents still here. But with temps rising, those folks are starting to cling to their air conditioner rather than be outside! I do see a few folks out and about for their early morning or post-sunset walk... but not many. Today is an unplanned roast...

 ... and it seems to happen that way consistently.  And this wasn't the real so-hot-you-can't-stand-it which can hammer us here at the gates to hell. This pseudo-cremation schedule is an iffy sort of thing and very dependent upon monsoons. The NWS says monsoons start  in June-July but in reality it's very much July and it's very dependent upon the weather phenomenon which drives it. Some years monsoon rains are an occasional inconvenience and other years they are consistent and strong. And 'strong'? That means a lot of rain arriving in T-storms. And in case you've led a sheltered life, T-storm = thunderstorm.  So in the mean time we wait and watch. And that means sunrise photos...   One more thing: a few months ago I was alarmed by a news report that they were building a new electrical power substation across the mountains which border our San Pedro Valley. I've heard it called the Willcox Basin.  We recently had a ride in that direction and discovered...

We've known this was coming for a long time but I wasn't prepared for what "pavement overlay" meant. But here it is, 'done and dusted' as Michael would say. I did my part to help by offering my opinion. Sadly no one paid any attention to my extensive insight... "blah-blah-blah!" Pavement overlay turns out to be a new layer of asphalt over the old. They started down at the bottom of our street, Agave Lane, then worked their way uphill to the top of our street opposite the Dumpsters. They started the previous day on Tamarisk Lane, then we were next. Agave Lane is on the right side of the map (North side of the park).   Getting started bright (?) and early, about 0700. They had workers here before that getting the equipment running so it was warmed-up when the workers arrived. Will & Patty managed to take their white van (above) out of the park  and on the road to San Diego pre-dawn  before  they  started on our street. Agave Lane- all done and dust...

 ... to sweat ! And complain. A lot.  It turned hot. Then this week it eased a bit. But it's coming back very soon! Hard to remember to check on sunrises and sunsets but here are what I managed to put together... Sunrise off to the Southeast... ... and a sunset off to the West (where else?!) The craziness in Washington DC has caused annual visitors to disappear from the park early as fuel prices climb to all-time highs. If you have a big 40'+ motor home or you're pulling a heavy 38'+ 5th wheel, either of which sucks up the diesel fuel, you need to take precautions to minimize fuel expense! Diesel was priced at $4.99/gal this week.