Smoke and Rain

Greetings Earthlings! How are things in your neck of the woods?  Our neck is full of smoke.  It's aggravating my throat somewhat. When we're out in the yard we can smell it.

So we had the exciting weather evening.  One of the local papers has put up an article with photos and a couple of gifs.  I doubt if much of the country gets this excited about rain, but here, we certainly do.  This is a haboob.  They're a wall of sand coming at you.  Tucson doesn't get them so much, mainly Phoenix.  Anyway, click on the link, there are some good pictures.

Today we had one agent come by to make a video for a client, and another came by to preview it for a client.  So, we had to leave the house.  We violated the cardinal rule of never leave the house and drive the car on an empty stomach, so we ended up at McDonald's.  I hate when that happens.  They're next door to an old strip mall that has been evicting tenants for several years.  I'm not clear on whether they're tearing it down or doing a big remodel.  The south end of Tucson has had a huge growth spurt as of late.  More retail, but no new roads.

This will make a remodel more difficult.

 The strip mall looks really bad.

I also have random photos.  This plant belongs to our next door neighbor.  He had it brutally pruned two years ago, and it's just now recovering.  The rain we've had has been enough to make it bloom. It's some sort of sage.

The next two are liberated from the internet.  This is a roseate spoonbill in flight.  The person who posted it says it looks like the bird is wearing a ball gown.

THIS is why you should not put gold fish in rivers, lakes or ponds.  Goldfish size is governed by how much space is available to them.  They're bad fish, they nibble at plant roots and muddy the water with dirt they stir up.  They are reaching crisis proportions in Minnesota.  WAPO has an article here.

Finally, here is history you probably were not taught.  It's about Wilmington, NC.  For awhile they were an example of how the races could live and work together harmoniously.  Unfortunately, a bunch of white guys rode in to town in 1898 to "take their state back."  Black owned businesses were torched, people were killed.  Apparently politics in the last 30 years of the 19th century were brutal.  Gunshots were reported on every election day, there were riots, there were deaths.  Poll workers would stab voters in the hand with an awl if they reached for the wrong color ballot.  One wonders if that's what we will return to.  The article is by Dan Danehy, and you can find it here.

This is San Xavier del Bac, we also drove out there this morning while killing time.

So, that has been our scintillating day, along with a trip to the grocery store.