Getting Hotter

The string of over 100 degree days has begun.  This is the real summer.  It has just been warming up for the real thing.  The prickly pear cactus are puckering for lack of water.  The saguaros are thin and tall waiting for the monsoon watering.  It has been dry.  We can't remember the last time it rained.  No fires near us this year. 

I remember what it is like to have fires in the nearby mountains.  You could see the flames like a corona on the top of the foothills at night.  As the days progressed, the flames could be seen coming down the canyons like glowing lava at night.  In the morning, when you opened your patio doors to catch the morning's cool air, the smell of smoke filled the air like a bar-b-que* on the patio.  But there was no bar-b-que.  Just the smoke from the fire blowing down into the valley.  The table and counter surfaces in the house got a fine coating of soot-like particles.  It was unusual.  Life went on as usual.  Finally the fire was under control.  There was property damage for some and families were left homeless.  Summer cabins were destroyed and areas were left without foliage.  As the years went buy, the plant life grew, homes were rebuilt, folks returned, and the fire was just a memory for most of us.

One good thing about the summer heat is that the snowbirds, i.e., winter residents, leave town for their northern homes.  Traffic is lighter.  Things are generally quieter.  It is natural to take it easy.  Less seems to get done.  It is a lazy time.  A good time to sit in a comfortable chair and watch the sunsets.  A good time to nap in the afternoon.  A good time to go somewhere air conditioned and stay as long as you can.
A good time to visit a cooler place if you do not like the heat. 

Taking it slow and easy,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011
*P.S.  Bar-B-Q or barbcue or bar-b-que is thought to be a word of Spanish origin from the 1600s, barbacoa, meaning a raised frame of sticks.  Interestingly, the word pyre, a pile or heap of wood, is thought to have originated in the 1600s also, though from the Latin and / or Greek pyra.  The Greek root pyro means fire, heat, or high temperature.  So, we've come full circle. 
Be cool.  C.