The Weather, the Cactus and Helium and Javelinas

At sunset last night we had a pretty sky.



Later we heard thunder, then we saw huge lightning bolts.  I can't tell you how unusual this is for May.  May is generally dry and hot.  This sort of weather starts mid summer during monsoon.  We checked a weather site and read this:

 Radar indicates the storm is moving to the west-northwest over Drexel Heights and the Tucson Heights area. Strong gusts to 60 mph will proceed the storm. Less of a threat exists for the Oro Valley area at this time. IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include... Tucson, Catalina, Oro Valley, Marana, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Casas Adobes, Drexel Heights, Flowing Wells, South Tucson, Three Points, Avra Valley, Pascua Pueblo Yaqui Reservation, Tortolita, Summit, Catalina State Park, Tucson Estates, Saguaro National Park West, Catalina Foothills, Valencia West and Tucson International Airport. This includes the following highways... Interstate 10 between mile markers 233 and 268. Interstate 19 between mile markers 51 and 63. Route 77 between mile markers 70 and 85. Route 86 between mile markers 154 and 171. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. && HAIL..

I really like the part about moving to an interior room on the lowest floor.  Fortunately we did not get the winds, but we did get a lot of rain.

Today we hiked up to the saddle between Golden Gate and Bren Peak.  It's sort of a stair master hike.  There are prettier places to be, but it gets the heart pumping and the blood moving.  This is not a May sky.  This is a July sky.

When we got home we tried to deer proof the new lemon tree.  They've been chewing on him and leaving the mature trees alone.  I have little faith that our structure will remain standing during monsoon, but when they kill the tree we can say that at least we tried.  

We also trimmed some spent palm fronds from the trees we can reach.  The stalk of the frond is really amazing.  Look at those thorns.  They have sort of a wave pattern.  They're also extremely sharp.

The trichocereus are blooming in the neighborhood.  They're different than the ones in the RV park where we used to stay.  Those would bloom at night and be dead by noon the next day.  These open, close at night, and then reopen.  Pretty cool.

 

And now, news you can use.  There is a helium shortage.  Party City closed 49 stores because they couldn't get helium for balloons.  Beyond the impacts to the balloon business, it also impacts MRI machines, semiconductor manufacturing and other important stuff.  I copied this out of an abc site.  It has too much video and some really icky ads so I'm not linking to it.

Where does helium come from?

Helium is the second-most abundant element in the universe, but to be of economic use, it must first be extracted from natural gas sources. All natural gas has some helium in it but only those sources with 0.01% helium by volume are considered economically extractable helium sources. Known sources of global production are in the Middle East (Qatar), the United States (Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas), Russia, Australia, Poland, and Canada.

What is it used in (besides balloons)?

There are many important uses for helium. Helium is used in MRIs, semiconductor manufacturing, fiber-optic manufacturing, aerospace applications (welding, leak testing, and pressurization), rocket propulsion, and deep sea diving, to name a few examples. The element also has military applications.

So - no balloons for you.

Shortly after hitting publish, 15 to 20 Javelinas went through the back yard.  They go through the yard of the neighbor behind us.  He did not put a wall up around his yard.  Usually they go through the wash, but today they climbed the bank and went through our hedge and out the other side.  They were moving fast, so pictures are blurry.