Jan 21

It’s rained here the last two nights. We were saying it was like Camelot – the rain must never fall ‘til after sundown – but after a pretty nice start this morning, the rains have returned with gusty, blustery winds, so we’re just hunkering down, getting out the games and planning an inside day.

The desert smells different after a rain and I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s not that nice, fresh-washed smell you get in greener places. It’s more astringent, like, Gerry says, wet rail ties. I can’t say I’ve ever smelled wet rail ties before so I’ll have to take his word for it. Considering that a lot of the vegetation here is creosote bush, that does make a certain amount of sense.

When we first got here, some of the bushes looked like a jumble of dried sticks. Now, with the rain to give them encouragement, they’ve started putting out tiny, tentative leaves.

I saw a yellow-rumped warbler yesterday hopping around in the bushes yesterday but he flitted away before I could get the telephoto lens on the camera. We saw them a frequently last summer in Alaska, so I guess they’re wintering over in Arizona, too. I just saw another little bird in mid-air, but he was moving a lot faster than his little wings should be able to take him. Hope he made a safe landing.

Here's a well-gnawed saguaro cactus that I talked about yesterday.