Rain!

It's not April, but this is western Arizona. Monday's skies were the color of pewter. The palm tree on our site rattled with wind. And the rains came down. Not just a light pencil-tapping on the roof but a machine-gun hammering.

And then it stopped. Irregularly shaped patches of blue emerged. The sun bobbed out from behind clouds.

The widest rainbow arc I'd ever seen stretched over Black Rock. The ground was soon dry.

Carolyn showed me photographs taken some years ago of immense patches of flowers across the desert. I've seen flowers on cacti but nothing like that. If we have to have rain at all, I hope we'll see a transformed desert as a consolation prize.

Work!

Whenever work was mentioned on the old Dobie Gillis sitcom, a character named Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver) let out a yelping "work!" I believe Herb and I echoed that sentiment as we retired.

But yesterday we both took jobs at our current campground, Black Rock RV Village in Brenda, Arizona. I work in the office of this 420+ campsite park, taking reservations, checking people in, charging items and taking payment, etc. I love it so far. I think I needed something to do! Today my cash drawer balanced--I felt I'd truly accomplished something. My work pays for our campsite, electricity and propane.

Herb is working on the maintenance crew, pumping propane, repairing cable TV outages, checking electrical problems and whatever the manager finds for him to do. He gets a paycheck.

It's part time work--truly makes a difference. We've plenty of time to enjoy the view. This was how it looked last evening.

Holy Smokes, Boss, It's the Green Hornet!

For younger readers, the Green Hornet was a masked crime fighter of radio, and later TV fame. As Herb rode off on his green quad, complete with wraparound sunglasses, the comparison came to mind. I'm not certain what sorts of crime he might be fighting out there on the Arizona desert, but I know he's having a great time.

We rode together yesterday, out the back gate of the campground and into desert land. After a time the only sign of civilization was the ATV trail. The only sound was the wind. Tall saguaro on the mountainside stood guard under fast-moving clouds. What peace!