Under the Tucson Sun

Well we have been living under the Tucson sun for about 3 months now, and although it really is as hot as you hear it is, we love that it is sunny every single day; even in the monsoon season, the sun shines the good portion of the day. The summer is indeed hot, even in the morning when I come back from my walk, around 8 or 9 am, my apartment, set to 80 degrees, actually feels like a burst of cool air. But with the heat comes amazing evening monsoon thunderstorms, I love the rain coming down in sheets and the thunder rolling on and on. But I am excited for the temperature to cool a little so we can finally go to the park with out singeing our skin on the slide.

We've been having fun exploring a little of Tucson. We love, love, love the zoo here, the fabulous library storytime and the parks and recreation classes. We also love swimming in our pool, going to the splash pad, and enjoying the nature and wildlife on our walks. We go walking almost every morning, sometimes just Ben and me and sometimes some of my new friends here. Half the time we walk around our neighborhood and the other half up the beautiful Sabino Canyon, and surprisingly I have probably seen more wildlife in our

neighborhood than in the canyon, but in either place there are simply a lot of critters and creatures around here.

Here's a little peek at what we've seen (and when I say seen, I mean within just a few feet of us):

5 tarantulas (thankfully dead and outside)

3 Havalinas (wild pigs)

2 rattlesnakes

And lots and lots of cotton tail rabbits, lizards, beetles and butterflies.

Clearly there is no shortage of wildlife in this hot, hot desert with no water. How they survive is a mystery, but we just try to stay out of their way and enjoy the sunshine.