Monsoon Skies

I love watching the skies during the summer rainy season. As it appears to be winding down, I thought I'd share some photos of this season's cloudy skies with you.

More Vineyard Romance!

It has been raining for the last couple of weeks. We will be posting pictures of the rain and how happy the grape vines are! There has been no hail to date so I am also happy. Today I wanted to show a side of vineyard life that is not much talked about. The vines do not stop needing attention. They continue to call for me when I would rather stay inside. I get wet out there! Since I am not exactly a tall person, even when the rains have stopped the vines continue to drip water as I work. And the soil, oh boy, the soil! It has a clay component that gets both slippery and sticky when wet. As I try to keep a sure footing the clay clings to my boot. It both adds a couple of inches to my height and weighs me down! Romance? You decide.

Doesn't quite capture

The monsoon rains are a magical time of year and now that they have started the storms never cease to amaze me in the variety of weather experiences they provide - rain and lots of it for sure, threat of hail that damages grapes, dramatic lightning and thunder storms, and swirling skies with eerie light and shadows. This past weekend a storm was quickly moving through as the sun was setting behind the Santa Rita Mountains and cast a strange light on everything. It was not the typical brilliant explosion of oranges, reds, and yellows, but rather a piercing pure white light on a background of dozens of shades of grey. Our sign was lit up in a way that it has never looked so I snapped this shot. The picture doesn't quite capture . . . .

Deluge

Sometimes the monsoon brings a gentle rain. Sometimes it's a dramatic electrical storm that is visible in the distance and is a treat to watch from the front porch. Sometimes it's crash bang right overhead. Crash bang overhead is bad when it's full of falling ice. Hail beats the crap out of plants and bruises grapes. Sometimes it's just a deluge. We haven't had the irrigation turned on in a month due to the monsoon rainfall. This storm last week that dumped 2.3 inches was a bit much.