It's Still Winter!

What a lovely, sunny weekend we had! On Sunday I thought to myself "I guess spring is here," and although spring inevitably turns into the kind of summer where you probably can fry eggs on the sidewalk, I was okay with that. Then yesterday (Wednesday) the rain came (along with a brief midday fall of big fluffy snowflakes that melted as they hit the ground) and the temperature plummeted, and this morning my back yard looked like this!

There are blossoms on the rosemary, but what you're seeing here is snow, and snow filling the bowl St. Francis holds, snow on the octopus agaves behind him, snow on many things in the yard but none on the ground or the patio. A friend who lives in Boston scoffed at my delight in our little bit of snow, saying "It doesn't count as snow if you don't have to shovel it!" And having grown up in Idaho, I have plenty of snow shoveling memories, but hey, don't rain on my mini-blizzard!

There was no freeze warning so we didn't cover the vegetable or herb gardens, but I think they'll probably be all right. The birdbaths were frozen (sparrow skating rinks, anyone?), our neighbors' solar panels were white, and so were the Tucson Mountains to the west of us, not just on top but all the way down as far as we could see. That just never happens!

     The prediction for the next several days is for high temperatures in the 50s and low 60s, then they'll probably climb back into the low 70s, something I could live with for a long time. Right now, I'm glad we have a fireplace to enjoy for a few more evenings. Later on we'll go back outside and light up the chiminea, which is currently taking a break.