weather thoughts

Starting over a year ago, every person that I told I was going to move to Arizona, and indeed every person I told in Arizona that I had moved here from Colorado, seemed to react the same way-- telling me how "horrid," "awful," or "unbearable" the weather is in the Phoenix area. Now that I've lived here for over 8 months and have even survived the better part of a summer, I feel I have earned the right to write an entire blog on the weather.

The much-awaited monsoon season has arrived in Arizona. On the flight into Phoenix last night, it appeared quite like we were going to land in foggy San Fransisco, looking out the window. But then I realized the truth- it was just dust. Maybe it was just my imagination, but after awhile, I felt that the dust had made it in through the ventilation system. Even in the plane, I felt like I was breathing it. And as soon as I walked outside, I was worried about how a few more dust storms were going to cause respiratory problems in the future.

Today felt and also smelled like Florida. It was warm and humid. But the sun was hidden for the entire morning, and it rained (really RAINED) for a good couple hours, which was nice. After that it was still humid, but at least it was only moisture in the air and not so much dust.

I like this variety in weather. I also like that this means that cooler days are coming very close. They tell me that August, which is almost half over, is the worst but last awful month.

It turns out Arizonans aren't really the crazies I thought they were. Sure, there are some that really do go running in the afternoon when it's 115 degrees (at least), and there are some that see no problem with hiking up a mountain in August (because if it's early enough, it's only 95 degrees!) but for the most part, Arizonans rely on their air conditioning and hate the heat. They are so adamant about their dislike for it, in fact, that I was expecting a far more uncomfortable summer. It apparently was a relatively warm July, and while I will not say it was always pleasant, I didn't seem to have a harder time than many natives. It seems they still haven't gotten used to the heat. And you don't stay here because you're used to the heat, you stay here because October-April, and sometimes September and May, are the most pleasant times you can imagine.