Saying goodbye to summer (Weekend Coffee Share #4)
Good morning, and welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share! It’s Saturday morning here in Tucson, the start of Labor Day weekend. It’s sunny and humid, and the wet pavement by my front door tells me it rained last night. The air is cool (well, cool for Tucson) and fresh, so before it gets unbearably hot and sticky, let’s plop on the porch with a morning beverage (got my Diet Coke right here) and look back on summer.
But it’s still summer, you say? Well, yeah, the equinox is over two weeks away, and it’ll feel like summer here in the Sonoran Desert till November. But to me, Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer. When I was a kid, we started school the day after Labor Day, and when I lived in Portland, a lot of times the rain would start right around Labor Day, so I’m wired to see this time of year as a transition to fall. And I love fall, so don’t spoil my fun, OK?
So, summer 2021. I’m not going to talk about the Microbe that Must not be Named, and I’m not going to talk about any of the other raging dumpster fires happening in the US or the rest of the world. Let’s keep our cozy little morning chat, well… cozy. And happy. Let’s talk about the good things–and complain about the weather.
June
We kicked off June with a visit to Tombstone, home of Doc Holliday and the Earp boys and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Fun fact: the Wikipedia page for Doc Holliday begins with this sentence:
“John Henry ‘Doc’ Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887) was an American gambler, gunfighter, and dentist.”
For some reason, that description cracks me up. “Gambler, gunfighter, and dentist.” OK, kids, which one of these is not like the other?
Other than the trip to Tombstone, what I remember most about June was the heat. Godawful, insufferable, relentless, scorching heat. A monthlong hot flash. I even whined about the heat here on this blog and spent way too much time one hot night collecting memes about Arizona heat.
I also went to the mall almost as much as I did as a teenager in the 80s, just to have somewhere to walk that wasn’t the approximate surface temperature of Venus. Found this painted on a shop window:
July
The monsoon rains started in July, giving us a break from the scorching heat. With the first big storm, we had a lake in our kitchen and another lake in our laundry room. Called roofer, problem solved. But the rain kept coming. And coming. And coming. This year we had the wettest July on record here in Tucson. Our rivers actually had–wait for it–water in them. Yes, really. [Note for people who live in normal places: Arizona maps contain blue squiggly things that are labeled as rivers, but they do not normally contain any actual water. Please do not ask me to explain this–or anything else about my adopted state.]
Anyway, here’s the Rillito River–with actual water in it:
In addition to getting rained on, we did a little traveling in July. I took the husband to Vegas for his birthday, where I entirely forgot to take pictures, probably because I couldn’t pry the hubster out of the casino long enough to do so. No, he doesn’t have a gambling problem. Quite the opposite: he’s the luckiest SOB I’ve ever met. He wins. Almost every time. I wrote a little about the Vegas trip here on the blog, but mostly I didn’t try to capture it in words or photos. I just experienced it, and that was lovely.
Our other July trip was to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. I use the word, “trip,” loosely, because it’s a whopping mile from our house. I posted a pic or two here on the blog and keep meaning to post more. So, here are a few more:
August
The rain continued into August, and our garden came to life. That saying, “water is life?” Yeah, that’s a fact. Our garden still needs a ton of work, but it looks so much better than it did before the rain.
The desert has also come to life with the rains. I’ve already posted about that here and here, so I won’t repeat myself today.
All in all, our first summer in Tucson has been lovely, but I’m ready for fall. Cooler days, cooler nights, Halloween, baking, Thanksgiving… and hubsters’ and my 30th anniversary, coming up in a couple of weeks. And the Arizona Authors Association annual awards banquet, where yours truly’s first-place short story from 2020 will be recognized (if we don’t have to cancel the event because of the Microbe that Must not be Named).
How about y’all? What were your summer highlights? And what are you looking forward to in the fall?
17 Comments
Susanne
YES to talking about good things and the weather! I’m sorry you’ve had such a bad summer weather. Here in Ireland, weather-wise it’s been the best summer since we moved here. Otherwise, my summer has been quite rough. But we’ve had lots of good musical moments, barbecues on the deck, and some highlights were to see pubs reopen, and to play music with friends in a garden.
Janet Alcorn
Glad you’ve had some good things but sorry it’s been rough. Our weather has actually been great. We needed the rain so much, and now the desert is green and lovely.
Susanne
I’m glad to hear that! And we needed the sunshine – my roses have never been so happy!
Natalie
I enjoyed reading your post, Janet. Your sense of humour made me smile. I’m glad your first summer in Tucson has been lovely. Your garden looks great. The basil plants make me think of more margherita pizzas, and to have lemons in your own yard is so nice. Thank you for your #weekendcoffeeshare.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! Mmmm, margherita pizza. I might have to make some of that. Just wish I had garden-grown tomatoes.
Jo
Your garden looks lovely. Here in South east Queensland our summers too last for months – although we tend to have humidity rather than dry temps &, yep, lots of rain too. Here’s too some cooler weather around the corner.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks!
Scribble and Scran
Wow a Basil patch, that looks amazing. Love the picture of the rose as well. Hope the house is on the mend and crazy water stops soon.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I’m enjoying the rain, as is the basil. Hopefully the house will behave. Thanks for stopping by!
SadiRose
I can’t say I miss Arizona (lived in Gilbert for years) but I have fond memories of Tombstone and Desert Museum. (And most importantly, I miss my daughter and grandkids in Phoenix)
Janet Alcorn
Tombstone is great. Haven’t been to the Desert Museum yet, but it’s on my list. Thanks for stopping by!
Gary A Wilson
Hi Janet, I love your posts. You have more quotable lines per thousand words than anyone else I read.and I can always count on finding multiple things to laugh at. I avoid political comments as a rule but may not be able to resist quoting your use of Dumpster Fires in some upcoming quip about the latest outrage from our presidents office – oh how perfect that was!
I believe we visited the Tucson Botanical Garden and yes, it was both wonderful and way too hot.
There really is a lot to love there, but it’s all overcooked unfortunately.
Thanks for another great visit.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks so much for your kind words! I’m glad you enjoy my writing. That’s what it’s all about for me—entertaining people. I stay away from politics on my blog, because we all have plenty of other places to go for that content, and it’s nice to take a break from it.
Kirstin
Loved your photos and update. In October I work at my son in laws family’s pumpkin patch. I love it. I live in Washington. We have not had much rain this summer and we desperately need it.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I lived in Washington for a few years in the early 90s and in Portland for 14 years. It’s so beautiful up there. Hope y’all get some rain soon.
joylenebutler
Love the pictures. My husband is a huge Doc Holliday fan. That sounds weird, but you know what I mean. Yes, autumn is a beautiful time of the year.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! Has your husband been to Tombstone? It’s a bit touristy but interesting.