It’s cold out there!

This is a ledge outside our garage. That white stuff is snow or ice. I’m not sure which?

I was talking on the phone with a friend from college who lives near Seattle. I told her it was freezing here.

“Freezing? What’s the temperature?” she asked. She sounded skeptical. I often used the word “freezing” when I lived in Palm Springs. That meant anything under 65 degrees.

“It was 29 degrees when I got out of bed,” I said. “We’ll have a high of 40 today.”

“Wow, that really is freezing,” she answered.

The other night I sat on the sofa looking out our sliding glass door as the house and sky lit up with lightening. The roaring thunder that followed was exciting. On my lap, Olive the cat, clung for dear life.Then it poured rain for hours. It was a fun evening in my perspective — real weather!

The next morning, my husband and I tried to walk. But it was too cold for us and we gave up. It was 30 degrees.

We waited until 1 p.m. for our “morning” walk. I took the two pictures here leaving for our walk. I’m not sure if it snowed after I fell asleep — or if it was frozen rain. A neighbor came over the next day and asked me what the white stuff was on our roof! I hadn’t noticed that before. It’s been so cold the ice/snow lasted for two days!

FYI, my neighbor said she had none. She’s just around the corner from us!

What do you consider freezing temperatures? What temperature is too hot for you?

Barrel cactus topped with snow or frozen rain.

From Summer to Winter

Last week I sought the shade. Now I seek the sun on my walks.

When we left for Mexico last week, the afternoons at home were topping 90 degrees. That is if it wasn’t “monsooning” with thunder, lightening and major rains.

We arrived home Sunday afternoon. I checked my phone the following morning before our walk for the temperature. I did a double take. 46 degrees. Yikes!

I got out my leggings and fleece jacket and bundled up.

What happened to Fall? We went from too hot to too cold in a snap. I used to complain in Palm Springs that we had lousy weather. It was either too hot or too cold. There were only a few days that were just right. It seems that Arizona weather is much the same. But I missed the “just right” days. There were none in September or October. Certainly none in the summer.

My next challenge is getting into my swimsuit and jumping into the YMCA pool. They had been cooling the pool. I sure hope they’re heating it now!

What is your favorite season and temperature range?

Balloons spotted during our morning walk.

One of those days

Olive cat
Olive giving me that look before she jumps in my lap.

It was 4 a.m. when Olive jumped on the bed. She does this most mornings to catnap on my husband’s chest. However, this morning she missed and landed on his face.

My husband howled and ran into the bathroom, his face dripping blood. Olive got his nose, upper and lower lips and chin with her polydactyl claws. His face is a mess.

Later, I went to swim laps and the lifeguards told us to get out of the pool due to lightening.

My husband was out on errands when the car wouldn’t start. He had to wait 90 minutes for AAA.

I was at home amazed how the bright sunny day had turned into thunder, lightning, pouring rain and monster winds. There were tornadoes in Flagstaff — two hours away.

Heading back home after AAA replaced the battery, my husband called and said he was in a haboob!

I googled it and told him to pull over immediately. Everything I read said NOT TO DRIVE. Here’s a video of the haboob.

He said he was driving through it. There were trees on the freeway. Everyone was going under 40 mph and had their flashers on.

Once he drove out of the haboob he ended up in a flash flood.

My anxiety went into overdrive. He made it home safely — finally.

Have you ever had one of those days?

An amazing cloudy day

Our 80 degree weather with sunshine vanished. We had one day and night of rain and cool temps — back into the 50s. Then yesterday was a cloudy cool day. But I enjoyed the beauty of the clouds and will share them with you. Most often our days are filled with bright blue skies.

Sonoran sunrise on a cloudy day
I walked into the backyard to get this photo of the sunrise among clouds. It rained during the night and the world smelled like creosote.
Our front yard cactus garden
This is our front yard during yesterday’s cloudy day. The previous owner loved gardening and he was quite proud of his cactus garden. When we first looked at the house, my husband confessed he hated cactus due to a run in with one when he was young. I think cacti are growing on him now.
Cloudy day in the Carefree area.
A morning walk view in our neighborhood.
Cloudy day
More clouds.

I’ve decided cloudy days are beautiful and they add a nice contrast to our regular sunshine. I want it to warm up though so I can jump back into the pool and swim laps.

Do you like sunny or cloudy days more? Why? Do you think a sunny day makes you feel more hopeful or happier?