esrosedotblog

RAINED OUT

I know. Other people have rain all the time.

Even I had regular rain earlier in my life. Sometimes we would go a couple of weeks without rain. Maybe. But that was so unusual it would make the papers.

Drought!

No car washing. Stop watering lawns.

But here, in the desert, rain is an event. A special experience that some people, not me, welcome as "weather".

Without the rain there would be no weather here. Well, winds. The occasional sand storm.

Weather predictors have a tough time here. Consider the local forecaster for the Coachella Water Authority (the outfit that moves water in from the Colorado River Canals and accumulates whatever rain water comes from the mountains in huge ponds north of town. The water settles into the aquifer and becomes potable for us to drink.

This guy has to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Elaborating on every conceivable weather pattern within a thousand miles, he predicts ahead and details the day.

His job is very important though. He is the forecaster of record for the many agricultural interests in this valley as well as the Imperial Valley down the hollow.

This all builds up to the point. What was it?

Yes. We are having rain. Quite a bit, actually. And the weather is quite cool in the 50s.

We will probably abbreviate or scrub our three way Sunday 90 minute walk today and take a turn around the condo circle. A slow 30 minutes or a fast 15 depending on how many bushes we sniff and the number of crosswalks between north and south sides.

It is tough to have to give this up but not as tough as for the huge numbers of people in town for Modernism Week.

A slog through open houses and walks through neighborhoods. There are special buses but still. Not a nice way to spend time in PS.

20,000 people. Makes our small threesome seem insignificant by contrast. But no. It is our threesome. Maybe it will clear up.