Norbert

The monsoons are over but we did get rain today, about 0.5". This was courtesy of Hurricane Norbert, which blew in from the East Pacific. Most of the rain fell in the span of 30 minutes: one squall this morning when we were trying to get to our friends to share breakfast, and one deluge this afternoon. The rain is very localized, and when I drove to the mailbox (in case you wonder about this idiocy, it is 1.25 miles from the house), it was obvious that most of it fell on the WD Ranch. The road was a river, and I really should have rolled up the window before driving through all this water....

Of course that much water in such a short amount of time turns even a desert into a giant mud puddle, which the horses just love. There is a lot of running, rolling and bucking. I always think that Cody, who is a native Oregonian, misses the rain and mud, but it is Buggsy, the Arizona horse, who goes crazy over the stuff. Perhaps never got enough of it in all his 15+ years. So here is our white Arabian-turned-Paint-Horse.


As the rain produced so much runoff, our "pond" is filling up as I write this. It is already half-full again, much to Emma's delight. Although Shawna is not shy about going for a swim either. It is her checking out the water level.

When I came into the house after taking the pictures above I still came across a Spadefoot Toadlet. I scooped him/her up and put her in the garden. The driveway holds no future for a toad.