Slow Moving Moisture

Snow is such an exciting event for those of us living in southern Arizona and when it does snow the local jabber is always about famous snow falls of years past. And oh my goodness, folks can reminisce. I confess to having some good snow stories…or I think so, and my favorite snow stories are the ones of snow in the Sonoran Desert.  Where we now live in the uplands of southeastern Arizona snow isn’t a common occurrence, but it’s not all that unusual. Certainly not as unusual as the snow that falls on rare occasions in the low desert. Now, that’s something. If I had more time I’d root through and find the photos of a white Christmas in the desert northwest of Tucson.  Hmm, that might be a fun search and story.

Snow started to fall at our place late in the evening of January first and into the next day. It was a lot of snow and Ms Mesquitey and I took turns walking around our yard with a ruler shouting depths…so somewhere between four and six inches depending on who you believe. The peaks and foothills of the Chiricahuas and surrounding mountains were covered in snow. A few days later rain fell in the grassland and foothills. Snow melted and seeps, streams and creeks flowed. The Ol’ Guajolote joined in and that magical riparian corridor had slow moving water meandering through its channels. Slow moving moisture.

The photos are mine. They look down our drive towards the Chiricahua Mountains on a couple different days. Okay, snow is exciting in the uplands!