Tucson's summer playground

When temperatures reach the 100*' s here in Tucson you can bet that many Tucsonans go find their "hide-y holes" to hunker down and wait out the heat...most often a cool house with the lights off, or the comfort of an air conditioned store, museum or theater...oh, yeah, and there's also the bars...
But when you feel the call of the wild, and have the need to breathe fresh air- you head for the mountains!

This image was taken at Windy Point, along the Catalina Highway- the road to Mt Lemmon-
Mt lemmon is Tucson's playground away from the heat of the summer- we drive up for a cool weekend nature walk  in the summer and fall-  Winter is when you can actually do a little sledding (and bring a cooler full of snow down from the mountain...)

Right now, -late June- we are in the beginning of what is called "monsoon season"- it's one of my favorite times here in the southwest deserts- yes, it's terribly hot- and the cicadas are driving us all crazy with their incessant hisssssss...

In a few weeks we will be treated to some invigorating (and dangerous) storms that appear in the late afternoon. We all start searching the sky for dark clouds...sniff the winds for that Sonoran creosote perfume...and we rejoice as the skies crack open and pour down their sweet sweet rainwater.

Until then, we'll be in our hide-y holes...waiting for the storms