back to blue

Skies, that is. I think my sister and I are the only ones in Tucson who will miss the crazy rains we've been having for the past week. Tim walked into the den yesterday morning and said, "Um, some guy named Noah just went by outside. I asked if he needed a cat, but he already had some." Lucky Starbuck. But seriously, we have had anywhere from 1-2.5" of rain at our house every night for the past 7 days (I think it's 7. Maybe more. Eleven? Can't remember.). Usually monsoons hit in the late afternoon/evening, but we've been getting thunderstorms after 10pm, and usually for the following 8-10 hours. The other night it woke me up 5 times. Kate somehow slept through everything; I'm not sure how, because the thunder was loud. Tim let out about 3" of water from our pool yesterday, after having drained an inch the day before. But I like the rain! I think I like the change in weather. In Seattle in the winter I would always pray for sun, just a hint would be fine. Here you wait and wait for something other than blue skies and hot weather. Weird.

Driving back from errands yesterday I was amazed to see the Pantano wash raging. People had gathered on its banks to watch it. At first I didn't know what the heck they were doing. What are you staring at, people? There's nothing there. Then I saw it: white caps in the very brown water that matched the brown color of the wash banks. Huge water! The Rillito River (we do have a river in Tucson, it's just rarely full of water) overflowed its banks yesterday. Craziness on the north side! Anyway, we've had a lot of rain, and now it's gone and I miss it.

Kate is cruising like crazy. She used to use her push-walker to get around and then would cry when it got stuck against a wall: Mama, why won't it go through the wall? Now she navigates like a pro. I think it happened overnight.

http://media.putfile.com/walkin-and-talkin

She is also initiating peekaboo now. My girl's all grown up...

http://media.putfile.com/peekaboo-13