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.

Earthquake and Snow

Arizona doesn't experience earthquakes very often, but they do happen. On Sunday, one took place near Black Canyon City, which is about 35 miles as the crow flies from Wilhoit. A 3.2 magnitude quake occurred about 9:00 pm. The main quake, 4.1 magnitude, took place at 11:29 pm and was followed 20 minutes later by a 4.0 magnitude quake.

At about 11:30 Sunday night I was standing in my dining room. Suddenly the upper story of the house vibrated and boomed. The event was brief but startling. My dog, Logan, and I looked at each, confused. It was scary. I had no idea what caused it.

Logan and I cautiously went outside. Everything looked alright. Logan went to each side of the house, barked fiercely as if to say, "I don't know what happened, but it better not happen again," then came back inside.

I didn't know what caused the ruckus until I saw news reports online the next day.

That was Sunday. On Tuesday the temperature dropped, and it rained. Wednesday, the temperature went even lower, and it snowed. Not much snow stayed on the ground, but the huge snowflakes were lovely.

Today was sunny, fairly warm, and beautiful. It's been a strange few days.