Our Midweek Muse - Weather

Our Midweek Muse's theme this week is "Weather."   I love a good storm!

I've created artwork showing a monsoon in my area of the High Desert in New Mexico.  

We have pretty hot summers here, hot and dry!  Around June or July, we get some relief when Monsoon Season comes, and boy, do we all look forward to these storms!  

A regular day can start out with a gorgeous morning: cool, clear blue skies, not a whiff of wind.  The day warms up, sometimes up to 110+ is reported by my weather station on the top of the hill in my backyard.  Then the wind comes up.  It's a fierce wind and I know we're going to have a storm! 

I gather my four hens, who are free-rangers, and secure them in their coop so they won't get blown around, and then run to lower the patio umbrella.  I give the backyard a glance to make sure everything is secure and right about then I can hear low, long, loud, growling thunder and the raindrops start.  Sometimes big fat drops, huge, will splat on the patio. I get my dog, Charlie, and run into the house, look around at all the doors and windows to make sure they're all closed tight!

Sometimes we'll have large hail suddenly falling in the midst of the Monsoon, pinging on everything.  The rain starts running down the hill I live on until it's like a river going down the street.  The temperature can drop up to 20 degrees or more in a matter of minutes. Thunder, lightning, rain, hail, all at the same time, while we watch out the windows from the security of our cozy little house. 

It's wonderful, and exciting, and the residents of my town always look forward to these storms.  (Frankly, we always need the rain!)  There are always questions and comments and photos posted on our town's Facebook page during and after these Monsoons.  

These storms come up so fast, they catch drivers out on the roads rushing to get home before the roads flood.  If there's a dip in the road, you can't see it because the rivers of water go down the roads, filling up the low spots, and it's easy to get stuck.  We have signs on some of the roads saying, "Turn Around, Don't Drown" at those points to warn drivers not to continue on that road.  

Anyway, a long story to say, I love a good storm!   

Thanks for stopping by!  See you next time...