SNOW ON THE DESERT AND OTHER SURPRISES

Yes, we do get snow and we got a bunch, for us, this last week!  At least our mountains got snow and a lot of the higher areas around Tucson.  In the twenty or so years I've lived here, I've seen snow accumulate right here in town on only two occasions, to the best of my recollection.  One of those times, it was on Easter Sunday! 

Hopefully, with all this moisture, we will have an amazing wildflower display this coming spring. 

This afteroon hubby and I took a little drive so I could take some photos without all the utility poles and lines and all my neighbors' rooftops cluttering things up.  Unfortunately, a lot of the snow had already melted.

Here's what it looked like on Saturday morning from our back yard.

A palm tree in the foreground....looks kinda weird with a snowy background, doesn't it?

The snow level was pretty low as you can tell by this picture.

Sunset on snow....how gorgeous!

These are from our Sunday afternoon drive.

This is Mt. Lemmon.  They had 75 mph winds up there which knocked down a lot of big trees and left them with no power.  The folks at the ski resort are probably biting their nails over that!  We wanted to drive further up the mountain but the road was closed due to downed trees.

Brrrrr.

Brrrrr!!!!

This is Thimble Peak.

Here are more of Thimble Peak and other formations...no snow...but I couldn't resist.

It's amazing what a little change in perspective does, isn't it?  Yes, these  pictures were taken the same day as the other ones with the snow in them.  I promise!

I had heard the The Rillito was running so we went to have a look.  We were too late, but it was obvious that a lot of water had run through it yesterday.

We took a walk down in the riverbed.  I love the patterns the moving water made in the sand.

We found some very colorful rocks.

And this one which looks exactly like a piece of bread!

When I was taking pictures of the snow from my back yard on Saturday, I was lucky enough to catch these two Gila woodpeckers.

And while we were at the river, look what we found!  A baby woodpecker!  Well, he is obviously not a tiny baby, but he's a youngster, for sure.  He just wouldn't get into a better position for me but I was delighted to even get this shot!

Snow is wonderful.  Snow is beautiful.

I'm always delighted to look up into our mountains and see it there.

"THERE."

I must admit that I am infinitely grateful not to have to deal with it HERE.