Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Is it Monsoon yet?!

This Storm appeared far away - Gold Canyon 2004
I know it's not monsoon yet, despite what the weathermen are saying this year; using dates, not dew points to determine the start of our violent summer storms, they've announced we're in Monsoon. I love the summer storms we have here; as long as I'm not out in it. As long as all my loved ones are safe inside. Violent storms; lightening I'd never imagined before--constant flashes; thunder non stopping and the worst part, the walls of dust that will on occasion proceed the storm, sometimes the wall is part of the storm. Paul and I did not respect the Auto Club Warnings of a monsoon,  when we came to the valley. We do now. We thought we could out run the storm one Wednesday night in August of 2004. We were on our way to So California for Lyndsey's wedding. We very nearly didn't make it. But for the stranger on the road (so surreal in my memory now) with the t-shirt covering his mouth waving his arms we would have
 crashed into an accident already on the road. I warned Paul and he stopped the car. I still remember the poor man in the car who didn't survive that day. We had to keep going and made it over to the side of the road, between our two angels.. Big Rig Trucks, and later followed them on the now empty Interstate 10. My strongest memory of that trip was the fear that Lyndsey's parents would have died on their way to her wedding....That was not ok. We did make it that night but never again traveled I 10 in the afternoon/evening during Monsoon season. I don't think of that late afternoon without offering a silent prayer for that man and his family.  We brought Makayla out to visit that week, while Lyndsey and Victor went on their honeymoon. These pictures are another storm.
Makayla's not liking all that noise
She'll sneak a peak now from Gran's window
Now I warn, re-warn and warn again, my children, friends and other family members that afternoons during Monsoon is NOT when we drive and when they see the black wall coming.. get off the road, turn off their lights.. oh yeah and Say their Hail Marys until the storm moves on.. Mostly they ignore me now.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog today.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your visit to my blog Brookville Daily Photo this morning. I hope you enjoyed my post today showing the honey bee and the hollyhock flower.

I saw a special last night about the disappearance of honey bees and it is sad to think that most of the fruit, nuts and vegetables we eat would disappear with them. So governments are busy trying to find the culprit before it is too late and one huge problem is the use of insecticides.

Anyway, I wanted you to know I was here to repay your visit and comment with one of my own. Kind of like "Kilroy" was here... remember those drawings everyone used to make?

I enjoyed reading your blog post for today and I thought the photography was good too. I especially like the last picture.

I lived in Tucson for several summers before I went into the Army and one summer in Show Low but never saw a monsoon. I did see lots of dust storms in Tucson.

I used to work, then, for Levy's of Tucson downtown and would sometimes go to a diner on the edge of Tucson that looked like an Air Stream trailer. I would set there drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette (bad habit) and watch the dust storm come across the desert and hit the place. They had closed everything down tight but when it passed everything inside was covered with a fine dust.

And they began taking glasses off of glass shelves to wash the shelves and the glasses.

Betty F said...

Abe, thanks for your comments. It really is something watching that wall of dust come toward you.. MUCH better from inside . I've read your comments before on bees. That is very worrisome. We have them here but don't know if the amount of them has dwindled here. I have forgotten a lot I use to know about cameras, settings and such; so I save a lot of your new posts on photos and writing a better blog. Thanks for the help you offer everyone.

sandy said...

Betty, interesting story about the monsoons. I have been in a few there when we visited. Drove through lightening for hours on our way to Tombstone once.

sandy said...

Betty, interesting story about the monsoons. I have been in a few there when we visited. Drove through lightening for hours on our way to Tombstone once.

Betty F said...

That must have been a long drive Sandy

Carla Marasco said...

I never heard the story of your eventful trip out for Lyndsey & Victor's wedding. We're very thankful that you made it safely. I worry everytime any of the family makes those long treks across the scorching desert. I will try to say my Hail Mary's before we come out next time!