Armageddon in Arizona

We live in sunny Arizona and exciting weather is really not a part of our makeup. We have hot as hell weather for about 4 months out of the year and then it’s gorgeous the remaining 8. However, the past week we have had rain everyday and then this evening we had tornado warnings! Tornado Warnings? Are you serious? That is insane! Chucklebutt and I had planned on heading north this weekend in search of snow, but apparently the highway patrol have put the kibosh on that. Interstate 17 and 40? Closed. Highway 89A? Closed. Flagstaff has about 5 feet of snow and counting. Officials are evacuating Sedona. Mudslides in Anthem. A tornado touched down in Blythe and from news reports, the San Francisco Peaks have had avalanches. It’s Armageddon I tell you! Yesterday, the media called a press conference on the coming storms. It reminds me of when weathermen would predict snow in North Carolina. Immediately there would be a run on milk, eggs and bread. Mind you our snow never lasted more than a day and invariably it would be melted by 10am in the morning.

So anyway, rain here is a super big deal. It’s the desert and there really isn’t any place for it to go. We have all of our fingers crossed that the roof won’t leak and the office doesn’t flood.

Besides the weather, life has been pretty mellow. I finally cleaned up all our Christmas and New Year mess and had Chucklebutt take some photos of my dishes. I love vintage mix-matched pieces and I think I may be addicted. I have such a hard time passing pieces by.

I count my blessings daily! We are so lucky here in the Gibson-Rice household and I sure do cherish the everyday moments.

A couple weeks ago, Chuck and I headed to Scottsdale for a Sunday afternoon of exploring. Scottsdale usually isn’t my thing — there are too many Hummers and Escalades for my comfort 😀 — but the afternoon was such a great moment in time. Chuck had been earlier in the week to photograph a performance art troupe. They were bringing awareness to water issues and the canal system. Apparently SRP (The Salt River Project) was draining one particular section of the canal and scooping up the fish and putting them further down stream.

I think this is an amazing shot! Chuck entered into a DP Challenge Contest and came in 29th out of 191. He was a bit disappointed, but I think he did great! Check out all the entries.

Note from Chucklebutt: The actor pictured is Aaron Wester. Full performance information: Vessel performing Transfix in The Art of Maintenance at the Scottsdale Canal. Directed by Rachel Bowditch.

This is the canal section that they drained.

I love duck butts. Chuck thought this should be my new blog header. We found these cuties further down stream.

As well as this fellow.

After walking around for a bit, we decided to grab a bite to eat at a groovey cafe. We ate outside where this duo was playing jazz. They were great and I especially enjoyed “My Funny Valentine.”