A Fish Out of Water!

I am sssooooo thirsty!!! Yep, a fish out of water. Having lived on the California coast the majority of my life, imagine my bewilderment at finding myself in the middle of the desert of Arizona! What the... Yikes! Don't get me wrong, there are some really cool things about living in the desert. Snakes and scorpions are not among them! No, the very best thing about it is after a rain, walking outside to smell that smell that you only smell in the desert. I don't have a clue what it is or where it comes from, but it's sweet and pure and of the plant world. A smell that you never forget. Another great thing is the monsoons! Sunny and warm in the morning and as the day heats up, the biggest cloud formations that I've ever seen grow right before your very eyes. Really, you can watch them. It's hot and humid and then you feel the slightest hint of a breeze. Your head snaps up to look in all directions. (You can see FOREVER from almost everywhere) Sure enough, there it is, the curtain of rain that you can see maybe 50-75 miles away and if you're lucky, it'll come in your direction. The wind starts picking up and you look around to get things picked up and put away before the rain gets here. Ahh, there's the rolling grumble. Shasta quietly tiptoes into the house, back to her cave under the bed. She's the most alpha dog I know and is willing to take on anyone to prove that she's the boss. However, a growl of thunder will send her to bed every time. A few light sprinkles tapping on the pool cover makes me hopeful that we'll get some real rain. Did you ever see the movie "Never Ending Story"? Remember the Nothing? That's kind of what these clouds look like. They move and change and have a biblical quality about them. And it's getting darker. Yep, it's coming! We grab our glass of wine and head to the patio to watch. The wind is whipping up, blowing the birds into their hiding places in the bushes and beams under the porch. The rain starts in earnest and you feel the temperature drop; sometimes 20 degrees. Oops, the swing bangs into the smoker, better take that down. Planter blows over. Dang. The trees are whipping and the rain is so loud smacking on the pool that you have to raise your voice to talk. We stay on the porch until the rain is pounding and blowing sideways into the porch. Inside we run from window to window, front to back to watch the lightening and count until we hear the claps of thunder. We are like two little kids, giggling from excitement! The yard has large pools of water. We marvel at the sheer volume of it! Then, cccrrrraaaaccCKKKK!!! We jump at one another and run away from the windows! There is no counting between the lightening and the booming voice of thunder! Oh my gosh! It's so exciting and so scary and so fun! As the rain lightens to a mist, a rainbow to the east. No, it's a double! Awesome. May as well finish our wine on the porch!