Sunday, May 23, 2004

05/21/04

8PM and I'm sitting on the East side of the pond watching the sun set. No clouds for a really great light show, but still nice colors. It was still warm when I came outside about 30 minutes ago, but has cooled noticeably, and in a few minutes a cool, dry breeze will appear. This happens nearly every night during the hot months and is one of the reasons I prefer living in this area.

There is noticeable humidity and I can smell blooming plants (honeysuckle) nearby. The birds are very active, possibly because it rained 3/10 of an inch last night, which is different. For the past five years we have had less than 6" of effective precipitation per year, about half of the normal average, then this year we had over 3" in April, and over 1/2" so far this month. Even such a small amount of moisture will bring arid region plants and animals to life.

9PM, the sun is down, I'm watching for the last view of Venus along the Western horizon, and the cool breeze just came. It's such a surprisingly instantaneous phenomenon. The season changes here happen in the same way. To quote Ian Anderson, "Summer always comes in a day."