Portfolio Pages

Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Snow is gone, but there are pictures!

Yeah, OK. I can practically hear the "snort" of derision by folks that live with snow every year (for months).
And I get it - and I agree.
It's not like it's been really cold here in Tucson.
(I lived in Illinois for a while as a youngling - I know cold.
Tucson ain't cold.)
A look at ONE of the photos from the Boston Globe's "The Big Picture" post on "Snowstorm Dumps on Northeast" is more than a reality check on true Winter Weather.

But - CRIMONY - it snowed for HOURS! In Tucson!!
Huge flakes/clusters and it actually STUCK to the ground and the trees and the cars and...the roads.
That is a bizarre happenstance for Tucson.

Several times in the last month, I have pseudo-bewailed that I hadn't ever driven in snow.
Well, I got my chance Wednesday.
I drove over bridges (no discernible ice) and on a well-travelled main road on the way to Sahuarita that accumulated slush and the snow was heavy enough to cover the tracks in the "fast" lane pretty quickly.
I have to say, we snow-clueless Tucsonan drivers were astoundingly well-behaved and actually driving under the speed limit in the foreign white-stuff.
(Sadly, that sensible-driving was offset the next morning by some significant wrecks...{sigh})

In the early evening, I made a couple of attempts to take some pictures of that rarely-seen-in-Tucson form of crystallized humidity: Snow.

 



When I got safely home later that night {the roads were much more interesting and slushy on the way home}, I went out to attempt some pictures of the white-stuff still sticking to the cactus in my back yard. {Click on the pics to em-biggin.}
Slushy Ice hanging from my clothes line.
Rocks underneath the clothes line and
the now-barren Mexican Bird of Paradise.
Snow-encrusted (down to the thorns) Barrel Cactus
(there are 2 new cacti growing from the right side).
Teddy Bear Cholla (purple prickly pear
cactus in the back)
Close up on the icy Teddy Bear Cholla

Night Blooming Cereus and Bougainvillea

The Moon was out by then.


Thursday AM, I was visiting a friend who asked me to take some pictures from her yard (her camera was not behaving just then):

   

Ah - and here's a picture of the Tucson Mountains in Snow:

Later I couldn't resist snapping pictures of our stunning Santa Catalina Mountains from afar - at my allergist's office (please pardon the overhead light reflection).

I LOVE the shading and definition the snow lent to our lovely Northern Mountain range. Normally, I have to admire the depth and ridges offered by sunrise/sunset or cloud-cover, but the snow showed off a new perspective of my favorite mountains.




The snow is mostly gone now. Certainly from around town and only the taller Mountains circling our city have white near the top.
The excitement from this snowfall felt like the first real snow of the season when I lived back east. Magical and surprising - a little exciting and, obviously, a bit nostalgic for me.

The snow they're dealing with back east now {along with flooding - wow} is mind boggling.
I don't envy them, as they won't envy us in July when our "dry" heat is regularly above 110, but I did enjoy our taste of "Winter" and my first experience driving in snow.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you one thousand times for these pictures. I miss the Old Pueblo something fierce and the beloved mountain goddesses are great beauties in their wedding finery. Unbelievable!

    ReplyDelete