Hot

Many people think of Arizona as all desert, with cacti and not much else. In fact, only about a third of the state is low desert. The elevation of Phoenix is about 1,200 ft and that of Tucson about 2,400 ft.

Central Arizona is a high desert transition zone. It's mountainous, with trees such as scrub oak, boxelder, hackberry, juniper, cypress, cottonwood, ash, maple, elm, oak, and pine. We have our share of cacti, agave, and yucca, but the elevation is much greater. My house in Wilhoit is at about 4,925 ft. Prescott is at about 5,200 ft.

Northern Arizona is even higher and cooler, with Flagstaff in the pines at about 7,000 ft. The highest point in Arizona is Humphreys Peak at 12,633 ft.

So when I say it was 102 degrees today in Wilhoit, it was unusually hot. I don't want to even think about the insane 118 degrees it reached in Phoenix.

Logan, my very long-haired dog, has been following me around all day, I think in hopes of finding cooler places to sleep. He's been pretty lethargic. Then again, so have I. Although I grew up in Tucson, I've lived in Wilhoit almost 13 years. I'm not used to this heat anymore.

Other than making sure the sheep have shade and water, there isn't much I can do for them. They seem all right, but they've certainly shown no interest in leaving the relatively cooler barn. Although I usually feed them outside, I tossed the hay in the barn today to, again, keep them shaded. I imagine they'll lay outside tonight once it cools off.

That's a distinct advantage of this area. The low is forecast to be about 64 degrees. The low in Phoenix is supposed to be 88 degrees. Yuck.

Umm, No Eggs

My hen, Miss Kitty, has turned broody, which means she wants chicks. However, she's currently sitting on the two wooden eggs I placed in the laying box to encourage the hens to lay eggs there. And even if she had real eggs, it wouldn't do her any good. I don't have a rooster. Sigh. I can't convince her of the futility of her endeavor.