It is still raining.
Raining in the desert.
More rain than LC and I have seen since we moved to the Snake River Plain almost two years ago now.
And while our neighbors commiserate over the cold and dampness, we are greatly loving it.
This morning it was pouring with rain and 45 degrees.
The Twin Buttes had completely disappeared behind low lying clouds. The Big Southern Butte was half shrouded in low lying clouds.
Our trees and burgeoning flowers are thankful for the rain.
Our back yard (which only a few months ago was assaulted by the digging of a deep trench that ran from fence to house so we could have a plumbing issue repaired) is quickly recovering.
Rain is scheduled every day at least through this coming weekend, and I am eternally grateful for one less week of the unyielding dryness and heat that is so typical in this part of the country each summer.
The rain and cool temperatures can stay as long as they can.
We are loving it...............
These pictures are all purely random, and were taken during a couple of recent walks in town with my dog.
The Twin Buttes late in the evening.................
Turbo belongs to an interesting middle aged man who lives in town.
The man is from California, and if I described him (both physically and psychologically) to readers of this blog I would not be able to help but give the impression that he is a little...............unusual.
Which is not surprising considering that he is a little unusual.
He is just a strange fellow but (as with others who live in this tiny community) LC and I are distantly and unfailingly polite to him.
As I learned while working in city government for many years - smile, nod and keep on moving.
Turbo spends far too much time alone and (not surprisingly) has separation issues...................
There is growth all over town.
Rose bushes ready to bloom.
Flowers ready to bloom.
Pine trees ready to bud.
Trees turning green. Grass growing green.
Other flowering trees whose name I don't know, all ready to finally awaken from their winter slumber with the wild bursts of brilliant color that appear seemingly overnight at this time of year.
I keep expecting the rain to stop at any time, and for the world to transform from green back to the all-too-familiar beige color that typically dominates this desert.
Not yet.................
There is a woman who lives in town and whose husband mostly lives out of town (so much mutual dysfunction, so little time) (smile, nod, keep on moving Karin).
The dysfunction is such that likely they will not have their home for much longer, but in the meantime they have a yard that is beautiful.
With a back yard that opens up to views of the mountain ranges to the north, mature and flowering trees and interesting yard art, it is a colorful oasis in the desert that I love to photograph.
Their art is whimsical, and scattered all over their overgrown and slightly unkempt piece of land, and these are a few of the pieces that caught my eye the other day................
After a mild February and March, it snowed in the mountains again a few days ago.
There had been no snow visible in the mountains, but now suddenly we have more.
Looking north and east beyond the raceway structures and looking into the mountains.
The raceway has no races scheduled in Atomic City this summer.
A symptom of the decline in participant numbers over the past few years.
The sky was partially blue on this day and (as I stood at the little town park waiting for Kory to investigate whatever it was that so completely had her attention) I looked deeply into the sky.
It was constantly moving and shifting in front of me, and as I watched it closely it looked like a restless animal filled with barely contained energy.
The sky was alive.
I could feel it ..................
This weathered table and weathered electrical spool have not moved in.............how many years have they laid in this same place and in this same configuration?
I have take pictures of these two things a hundred times or more - in the snow, in the brown dryness of mid-summer, in the rain, in brilliant sunshine...................
THIS yard is right across the road from the house.
With all the rain and only the mildest of attention from a neighbor who purchased the property with the unrealized expectation of quickly selling it for a profit, this piece of land is turning into something really lovely.
It overlooks the Twin Buttes.
In winter frozen mist collects on every tree limb and every fence post, and it looks absolutely gorgeous.
As LC busied himself at the house with a marine battery, I walked across the road in search of my dog (who had found her secret hole in the fence and entered the property in search of bunnies).
She happily kills them if she gets them.
Sometimes she succeeds.
Sometimes she doesn't.
But whether she catches a bunny or not, she squeals in delight while chasing them around the yard...............
This lilac bush is across the road from the house, but we unexpectedly learned this spring that we have our OWN lilac bushes in our own yard.
Plants in the yard had been neglected for years before we moved into this house.
Deer (that still lived in town before mysteriously disappearing this past winter) eagerly ate down anything that turned green in our yard last spring.
So it was with surprise we learned this year that:
1. We have both purple and white lilac bushes
2. The smallest of rose bush vines are beginning to grow close to the fence
3. Some other vine is beginning to grow in another area close of the fence.
4. We have a couple of spiny plants randomly growing and have no idea what they are
5. Small trees (along the fence with our neighbor) have spontaneously begun to grow on our side of the fence
6. All the irises we planted last year made it through the winter
7. We have planted all kinds of random things in our yard this spring that we either found or which were given to us by our neighbor, and with all the rain they are doing fine so far.
I cannot remember the names of most of the things we have planted this year, but everything seems to be doing fine so I guess it's all good............................
On the hunt for unsuspecting bunnies................
A look back towards the house..................
With Kory still frantically running around in the yard across the road (and still in search of something to assassinate) I walked back across the road and headed towards the fence by the side of the house.
You would have thought that I had recently bought stock in the Dollar Store because the entire front fence has been decorated (courtesy of the DS) with metal things - hummingbirds, lady bugs, flowers, smily face sunshine things.
The house itself has begun to be decorated with horse related things and we continue to transform a completely unloved house and yard into a completely loved home and yard...................
Home is a shelter from storms - all sorts of storms.............William J. Bennett
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