Desert Rain

Looking east at the approaching storm from the beach

Today we got to witness something extremely special. It was the first rain of the season. Not only this, but the last time it rained here was the end of September 2011. That's right- 9 months ago! This rain was apparently quite early. It didn't last long, just a quick 20 minutes for the thunderstorm to pass overhead. But it was spectacular. First we heard rumbling in the distance. James thought it was the ocean the first time Parula asked about the noise, which it could have easily been since our proximity was close at the time, just a few blocks away. But then we looked up in the sky and saw the anvil plume and dark clouds that had formed over the mountains to the east. We didn't think it would make it down to the coast where we were. We took a walk to the beach, the storm looked like it was growing and coming our way. Three dogs followed us, one was a Dalmatian with brown spots- so sweet, and the other two were Mexican mutts. I began to get a feeling that once we move down here we are going to end up with a pack of our own dogs. Maybe Pia and River wouldn't go for that.... Everywhere we go there are dogs following us around. These were clearly somebody's dogs, they all had collars on, but there are plenty of dogs around that don't seem to belong to anyone in particular. Yesterday I saw the most plump little dog I've ever seen in my life. I think it was a pregnant Chihuahua. It was quite an amazing site. It would be even more amazing to see a Chihuahua puppy. I digress- we went to the beach and looked back to the east and saw amazing clouds coming our way, the thunder got louder. On our way walking back to our car Sorrel could not stop talking about the holes that lightening striking the ground and trees can make. As soon as we reached our car it started sprinkling- lucky us!

Approaching storm

The funny thing about driving a car around here is that it rains so infrequently and is so dusty, that when you go to use your windshield wiper for its intended purpose- so you can see when it is raining- it only makes matters worse. I remember this from living in Arizona, and was reminded of this again today!

Watching the waves break

This evening we went to a pizza dinner in someone's back (or front?) yard. We were invited by a real estate agent here that we met today. Every friday night this guy makes really good pizzas in his outside brick pizza oven, serves beer and other drinks, and people (mostly gringos or people married to gringos) gather on his large patio for some favorite American comfort food. It is not free by the way, but a great idea! We met some very interesting people- one woman is an 80 year old artist who has lived here for 13 years. Another woman runs a website (baja.com), and has lived here for 10, originally from New Jersey. There were lots of kids, and young people with families as well. We didn't get to have any conversations with those people, as there seemed to be some social re-uniting with these families, and also we were having good conversation with the people we were sitting with. We had a nice time, and returned back to the house with some puddles to dip our feet into, the lovely sweet air of moist desert plants, and the fingernail sliver of the moon off to the west. Ah what a day!