Fog Blog

Dec. 17, 2010. After more than 3 months of blue skys and sunshine, we got our first winter precipitation yesterday: a gentle, long-lasting, nurturing 'female' rain, very different from the often violent 'male' downpours of the summer monsoons.  This morning, we woke up to a strange, monochromatic light. Thick fog was rising from the moist soil, obscuring totally our view of most of the Tucson Mountains. Even the single Twin Peak right beyond our property line was shrouded in a white vale.

Old, familiar Saguaro cacti towered as ghostly shapes over our path to the newspaper-box.

Ordinary Cane Chollas had turned into silver filigree.

  When Cody and I reached the newspaper-box at the end of the driveway it seemed a pity to just return home, so we continued on into the State Trust Land.

The sun broke through at around a quarter to eight, and the autumn colors of the desert vegetation appeared especially striking against the diffuse gray background.

A coyote was watching suspiciously. The resident pair is courting and getting territorial right now. I really need a new light weight camera with a zoom lens. These photos are taken with my 50mm macro.

With the mail coyote so close, Cody needs to mark a tree-trunk. No problem if the only trees available are Jumping Chollas: He knows exactly how closely he can approach them.  

The parched Creosote bushes sparkle with droplets. Only a faint trace is left of the spicy fragrance that these shrubs emit when they first get wet. The smell that makes every long-term desert dweller feel so good...

Rain after the drought

How fresh everything looks

Before the raising fog dissipated, it nearly completely shrouded even the closest peak.

 We finally brought the newspaper home. Time for breakfast