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Friday, July 11, 2008

The Desert After Rain


In less than ten hours yesterday we got 2.8 inches of rain. That won't sound like much to my favorite cousin in Chicago, but to us desert dwellers it's a deluge. The desert earth becomes saturated quickly, and the water runs off forcefully, causing floods. Here in Dona Ana County we've been under a flash flood warning for several days. But the desert is gorgeous after life-giving rain. This vista is an example of how fresh everything appears.
A forest of ocotillos suddenly comes to life.
A rain lily pops into existence.
A small cactus garden (prickly pear, strawberry pitaya and ocotillo [not a cactus]) gives texture to the rocky desert soil.

1 comment:

Violet said...

A heavy black cloud appeared as if by prophecy flexing powerful bolts of lightening as it advanced over the brooding landscape. I gazed upward expecting large alien pods to descend and take root in my garden. Have they hatched creatures who feasted on my brain while I innocently slept turning me into a zombie-like creature? Or is this Chicagon merely spent from the ever increasing insanity of a weather system gone amuck?

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