Climate

Merry Christmas 2015


Verna and I wish each and everyone a very Merry Christmas! We hope that you all have been and will continue to be blessed as we have been.

We are spending our Christmas with each other and our dogs at home, away from the hubbub and secure in our little house. We plan to travel and visit with family and friends after the new year begins.

Verna took the image seen in the animation above on New Year’s Eve, 2014, just about a year ago. It was the ONLY snow day that we have seen in the five years since moving to Arizona.

Again, blessings to you and yours and enjoy the Christmas Holiday.

Frozen Rain Bucket

Frozen Rain Bucket

When the Daddy walked Bay Bay and me this morning, we noticed something about the water in the rain bucket that the Mama keeps under the drain spout. The water was very hard and cold! I sniffed at it and tried to take a drink but I couldn’t.

The Daddy said the water was frozen and then took us into the warm house where I could get a a cookie and a drink. Click on us to make us big.

The Sam Adams Guide to Seasonal Changes

Winter LagerIt is sometimes difficult to tell the seasons in our part of Arizona since we’re in a temperate zone where we can have a cold spell as we did in early November and, like today, we have spring-like mid 70’s temperatures and clear, blue skies.

But we can tell from what we see in the cooler at the supermarket that when Samuel Adams Winter Lager shows up, that it is well into the fall and winter is nigh. We’re transitioning from Samuel Adams Oktoberfest (the last three bottles today) to the Winter lager that is in the fridge and ready for tomorrow. We look forward to, regardless of the weather, having Samuel Adams Cold Snap and then Summer Ale to be followed with Oktoberfest next fall and Winter Lager thereafter.

Of course, another positive indication of winter is when the snowbirds fill the RV parks in our area. They are back now, and the roads and stores are busier than the lighter traffic months of spring and summer.

Water Under the Bridge

Railroad Bridge across the Hassayampa River

This is a rare photo of the BNSF Railroad Bridge spanning the Hassayampa River seven miles south of Wickenburg where there is water flowing above ground in the riverbed and going under the stately bridge. Verna took this photo from US 60 on Wednesday while we were on our way to do some shopping in the northwest metro valley.

We have had a considerable amount of rainfall over the last week, with thundershowers in the mountains and below producing enough precipitation to flow down from the headwaters of the river in the mountains northeast of town. Today, the showers have subsided and the forecast is for partly cloudy and mostly sunny weather until the next unseasonable thunderstorms hit, maybe as a consequence of hurricane Patricia, now situated in the eastern Pacific off the coast of Mexico.

Meanwhile, it looks like good weather to prevail for tomorrow and the weekend.

Arizona Flag Sunrays

Arizona Flag Sunrays

I’m certain that Arizona sunrises and sunsets like this were the inspiration for the Arizona State Flag. We fly the state banner below the Stars and Stripes on our flagpole (when the monsoons aren’t here) and the similarities between the design on the flag and the setting sun last evening are quite clearly evident.

I am so glad to be repatriated to my birth state and Bob is glad to be an expatriate from California in favor of this beautiful place. God blessed the desert with beauty and tranquility (most of the time). Click on the image to enlarge.