thunder, lightning!

The last couple of days have been humid--heating up to thunderstorms in the afternoon. Yesterday our storm fizzled, but the day before we had a doozy! I wanted to sit outside and watch the clouds build, listen to the thunder rolling across the valley but after the first lightning strike and a CLAP of thunder right above us, I scurried into the house. The temperature went from 90 to 60 in the blink of an eye.

The Catalinas completely disappeared during the storm. The hill behind our house was lit up in an eerie yellow light coming from the west and beyond that a wall of dark gray. Truly spectacular! And at the end of it all we had a double rainbow! I'm beginning to really appreciate monsoon season. The moist air, the call of doves, the fluting voices of finches make me think of  Hawaii--the difference being no lush plants, just desert cactus, Saguaros, and now Ocotillo completely covered in tiny leaves! Maybe the novelty will wear off but the speed with which things change after a rain is mind-boggling!

Because of the cooler temps, I've been able to open my windows again to the night sounds. I've been wondering where the coyotes have been and last night my question was answered--they've been raising their young. I heard the baby yips and barks mixed in with the older voices around 9 o'clock. At 1:30 I

woke to deeper yips very close to our house--I think the babies had been taken home by that point.

Maybe it was their first hunting expedition. 

I love living amongst the wild things--they make me smile despite the loss of our cat two months ago. 

I have yet to see the Javalina but I know they're around. I've seen some strange deer-like hoof-like prints in the sand of our road that may or may not be theirs. We did lose several small succulent cactus while we were out of town--were they the culprits? I can't imagine a rabbit eating something so spiny.

Every day my dog gives chase to one of the myriad bunnies hanging out under the bushes surrounding our house...yesterday the bunny took off with Buddha close behind and a minute or so later the bunny had circled back to end up under the very same bush. Buddha looked perplexed, his head cocked to one side in confusion as he arrived panting and exhausted.