Second Spring

Those living in the Sonoran Desert experience two springs.  In this land of five seasons (and you thought we only had one!) our functional spring starts in mid-February when the days lengthen just enough to make the weather begin to warm.  The extra light coaxes plants from their brief winter of idling into rebirth and renewal.  By the time the astronomical northern hemisphere spring arrives -- this year it was March 20th -- the desert has already shifted into high gear.  Plants are leafing out and blooming, and many animals have already given birth, like this nose to tail pair of doves in their twig nest nestled in a cholla cactus.

Blessed by extraordinary rainfall in the first months of this year -- over five inches, almost as much as in the preceding calendar year -- our spring(s) have been prolific.  We had a dry fall, so we didn't get extensive carpets of wildflowers, though if you knew where to look, you could find a pretty good facsimile, like this equestrian trail in Catalina State Park.

The days are warm now, usually in the 80's, but the nights are still deliciously cool.  Meals are seldom eaten indoors.  Instead we sit on the back covered porch, and later go out and sit on the terrace watching for shooting stars and eavesdropping on the quails' conversations as they settle into their evening roost in the big olive tree out back.  If we're lucky the ever-present coyotes will tune up, yipping and howling through the darkness to their own tribe and rivals.

The white wing doves have reappeared, harbingers of the heat to come with their call of "who cooks for you?"  By the time they ask that question, I've quit using the oven and am relearning my hot weather strategies such as walking and gardening when  the sun either hasn't made an appearance yet or is still low in the morning sky, closing the house up by mid-morning to retain the night's cool air, and making sun tea, lots of salads, and enlisting my husband's outdoor grilling talents.  Six weeks from now it will be searing.  Right now it's complete bliss.