Here Comes the Sun

Having, for the most part, grown up in the northeast region of the US - with its rolling green hills, pristine lakes, and fiery colored autumns - I was a bit hesitant to move to the Sonoran Desert.

But having, for the most part, grown up in the northeast region of the US - with its seemingly six month long, five foot deep winters - I was also ready and excited to never have the need for a windshield scraper again!

When I think about it I miss the fall foliage and the smell of a March sugar house horribly. But the desert southwest is definitely our home for a while and we do LOVE it!

Spring is the time of year when the landscapes here become a virtual kaleidoscope. Whereas New England's autumns are beautiful in a calming, nearly monochromatic sense, Arizona's springtime almost shocks the senses with its vistas of deep contrasts and intense colors. The delicate wildflower beside the spiny saguaro, the rust-colored buttes jutting into a deep turquoise sky, even the very presence of life at all among the hot dust and clay of the desert.

Soon the cacti will be blooming and the pair of mourning doves that have chosen our tree for their nursery will be parents -- Spring is here! And with it are the warm temperatures and glorious sunshine that make life here so very pleasant.

As for the impending triple-digit summer on its way . . . it'll be a dry heat!