by Doranna
On occasion, in the middle of an incredibly busy busy-ness, nature stages something so spectacular that you either sit up and take notice, or you regret it. Forever. Even if you are supposed to be working on production for LYNX DESTINY.
Today, it was a storm that loomed for hours to the northwest of us, until it finally descended with intense short-lived vigor…to the northwest of us.
The southeast still pretty much thought it was a sunny day.
So I went on Rainbow Alert. Double Rainbow, even…
Northwest view, mid-storm: Bright sunshine on one side of the house, tumultuous rain on the other…rainbows and bright sparkling sun drops in between… It’s actually raining plenty here, but the angle of the drops makes them hard to see, aside from those few sparkles.
South view, with the storm to the east, the sun to the west, shining off the pinions in the paddock. That looming brown tree in the back is the grandady pinion I’m currently mourning–last week it went brown, too stressed to survive the long-term drought even with recent rain.
The west/southwest view. Not snow or hail…just sun drops.
After, looking east, with the setting sun banking off the junipers and the next squall moving in.
The rainbow’s hanging in there, but there’s a blanket of rain between us.
The vertical view, the same shot. Wish I had gotten some of the lightning–wow!
Summary shot! Banking sun, rainbow, clouds, and sundrops!
Now, back to LYNX DESTINY. But I’m pretty sure that our hero Kai would have dropped what he was doing to watch this one, too.
Rain before I came home from work at about 5PM left tracks on the ground. Then rumbly grumblies all around, which I thought would just make false promises. But noooooo. Pouring rain in the evening. Bring it on, the desert’s turning greeeeennnnnn
I have hopes that some of my perennials–even the ones that aren’t managing to flower this year–are building enough roots to do well next year. 8)
YES! the mint is, of course, ecstatic
Our mint–newly planted last year and just devastated by the drought combined with the late intense cold snap–is one of the things I hope to save.
if you need any replacements or for that matter if you want ANY mint let me know. This mint has found its sweet spot
What kind of mints do you have? We have two kinds of peppermint, a lemon mint, a lemon balm that didn’t make it (wah! I loved it!), and some cat mint that’s just been struggling stupidly all along. (People say, “Be careful with mint! It spreads fast!” I’m like, “Bring it on–!”)
I know I’ve planted all sorts of mints but it’s mostly just “mint”
Beautiful!
It was really amazing! 8) I wish I was a better photographer. I’m sure there were some stunning pics to be had there, for someone who knows how to push a digital camera.
Inspiring! Every now and then I wish I lived in the Southwest. I bet you even have stars at night.
We do! I miss Flagstaff, though–the first Dark Skies city, had its own telescope/observatory, and the stars there are just amazing.
Lovely! I frequently wish I were a better photographer, too. We get some interesting effects with storms we call “N’Awlins native,” — born, grew up, and died in the same neighborhood. Most of our storms sweep in a line, northwest to southeast, but some just suddenly pop up in a visibly building cumulonimbus, and the effects — like your photos — can be sunshine here and rain there, like down the middle of a street. And rainbows. Sometimes even triple rainbows. Ah, Mother Nature!
Most of the monsoon activity around here is like your pop-up storms. You can watch the clouds build by the moment, once they start!
I missed all the rain–or it missed me–I went south and when I got home at 10 pm there were puddles aplenty! Love these summer storms. It has been a while since we’ve had a normalish monsoon!
Certainly not since I’ve been here! We heard rumbles last night, but any rain missed us…