June 18, 2005
It's three days from midsummer's eve, the solstice, the official beginning of summer. It's seasonably hot, which means low one-hundreds. That's about to change. It's going to get hotter--105 and above--for a few days. And according to the National Weather Service, the monsoon is underway in Sonora. Moisture is expected to start moving into our area soon, meaning it will be humid (though not like back east). Some forecasts call for the monsoon to arrive late; others say it is right on track. Average start date is July 4. We haven't had a "normal" monsoon in several years, though--there have been way fewer thunderstorms than we used to expect. No way of telling if this is a long term trend or not.

Yesterday afternoon when I went to get the mail I surprised a flock of quail in the driveway. Mama and Papa and too many babies to count. This might be the same flock I saw the other day in the pond area. The babies were bigger, but they do grow up fast.

Today I saw who is eating the bison burgers. I put some out (the last of what I have cooked) because I haven't seen the road runner for a while, and hoped to attract it. I put out four pieces. Two remain. A little while ago I saw my little chipmunky guy disappear with one of the chunks.

He is, by the way, a Harris Antelope Squirrel. I don't remember if I posted that here or not. The other squirrels we have are round-tailed ground squirrels, which look a little bit like prairie dogs, only smaller. There are a gazillion of them down along the River Walk.