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The palo verde tree (“green stick” in Spanish) is Arizona’s state tree. Very pretty yellow flowers when it blooms (but not a happy time for people with allergies).

Creosote is a scrubby bush that grows everywhere around here. It has a long history of medicinal use by indigenous peoples. It's used to treat respiratory ailments and has natural anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. That unique fresh aroma that predominates in the desert after a...

1:30 PM 92F 8% humidity sunny Quintessentially southwest: keeping a creosote branch in the shower.

How green and beautiful it is there! That's a lovely coop.

Wow, that seems early. People place bets on when our first triple-digit day will be. I try not to think about it. It's 83F indoors right now and climbing. I baked my last pie last night. 😭 No more oven use until November.

Noon 95F 5% humidity sunny Desert horned lizard camouflage:

5:00 PM 98F 4% humidity sunny

I've spent summers in Georgia and Alabama. I can tolerate that much better than single-digit humidity. It's not just discomfort. People underestimate how destructive very low humidity is to everything from car interiors to furniture to your hair, eyes, and lungs. If I listed all the ridiculous...

6:30 PM 89F 3% humidity sunny

11:30 AM 92F 6% humidity sunny

That's so pretty and green! Looks like heaven to me. You have beautiful animals.

Noon 91F 4% humidity sunny

2:00 PM 91F 3% humidity sunny Check out this fellow from two days ago. This is a Western Long Nose snake. They mostly live underground and it's rare to see one out and about like this. They are not venomous, they're very shy, and virtually never bite but they can squirt musk and blood at you...

2:00 PM 89F 3% humidity sunny Starlink satellite train last night. It looked like a giant glowing space worm.

5:00 PM 89F 3% humidity sunny My eyes feel like they're full of sand and crumbled Saltines.

Some are. I'm not one of those. I come from the California coast and my ancestry is from the coasts of northern Europe. I don't like weather extremes. The American southwest is definitely not the place for me. All I can do is endure and look out for my animals and long for November. What...

Noon 90F 6% humidity sunny

1:45 PM 91F 4% humidity sunny Counting down until sanity returns...

12:30 AM 60F 26% humidity clear A Gambel's quail found a well-protected spot for her nest.

10:30 PM 67F 18% humidity clear More! Gah.