Usually, this time of year, when the temperatures are over 100 degrees, we start getting some monsoon rains.
So, yesterday when the dark clouds began moving in we would get some rain, and we did.
But only after some strong winds, reminding us much of a coming hurricane on the gulf coast.
Usually, wind gust in the desert doesn’t blow off the green olives on our patio tree,
but they did yesterday.
As the front moved through, we started to get some rain.
We received about one-quarter inch, the first rain in two months.
Arizona Trail on Horseback — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Recently I spent some time photographing wildflowers in the Molino Basin. One of the trails through the campgrounds is part of the Arizona Trail. When I arrived, there was a horse trailer with three horses and four guys saddling-up the horses. Since I was there to photograph wildflowers, I started hiking the trail. About the time I reach a section of the basin that had experienced a wildfire a couple of years ago, I looked back and so two riders with a packhorse. Of course, I had to take a few photos, and at the first opportunity, I asked how far they were going. They had begun a three-day, two-night ride to a ranch just outside Oracle, Arizona, which was on the northside of the Santa Catalina Mountains. I wished the well and continued photographing wildflowers.
It’s the time of year to start doing nature walks and hikes at higher elevations, so last week I went to Molino Basin at 5,000 feet. A lot of wildflowers including more thistles than I’ve ever seen.
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist (SCVN), Ed Rawl, died April 18, 2020. Ed loved everything about being out in nature and teaching his love of nature to children. He completed the SCVN training program in 2010, one year before I did. During my, training Ed was one of the naturalists I spent time observing. He was a factor in my choosing to teach on Thursdays in the elementary program.
Ed Rawl; Thursday Elementary School Program (3/3/16)
Ed taught on Thursdays from January 2010 to January 2019. He loved being with the kids and remained active in the program until a series of health issues began to take a toll on him.
Ed Rawl (January 10, 2019)
Ed was the Thursday Day Coordinator in December 2014 when Alexa Von Bieberstein, who had been an SCVN member since 2007, was returning to Germany.
When I was Vice President of Public Interpretation, I called on Ed several times to help guide groups of hikers.
Dan Granger and Ed Rawl with Members of the American Senior Housing Association (11/07/14)
Ed Rawl Guiding Some of the Appalachian Mountains Club Members to Hutch’s Pool (04/08/14)
SCVN Friday Hikes with Ann Nierenberg, Ed Rawl, Dan Granger and Tim Ralph (6/22/12)
Ed loved hiking in the Santa Catalina Mountains and was an active guide in the SCVN Friday Hikes.
Ed Rawl and Naturalist Jan Labiner Hiking to Seven Falls (10/17/2013)
When not doing the regular SCVN Friday hikes, he would hike with friends, or often alone.
Hiking to Thimble Peak — Naturalists Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Phil Bentley, and Alexa Von Bieberstein at the Gorden Hirabayashi Campground (11/07/13)
One of the most memorable experiences came in November of 2013 when Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Alexa Von Bieberstein, Phil Bentley, and myself hiked to Thimble Peak. On a windy and chilly morning, we began our hike out of the Gorden Hirabayashi Campground.
Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Alexa Von Bieberstein, and Phil Bentley (11/07/13)
Country Club Vista Circle In Tanuri Ridge — Image by kenne
Most of the residence of Tanuri Ridge are empty-nesters or retirees, However, there’s a couple in our neighborhood with two preschoolers. We are all part of our “stay-at-home” world, and the children have no idea as to what is going on. Yes, they know there’s no going daycare, no going to the park, no swimming at our community pool (their parents are former U of A swimmers, now working in the Athletic Department), and that mom and dad are at home all the time. They will grow up in a world utterly different from that that we have known. They will only know the 21st century, hopefully learning from the 20th.
Each day we see the two children, once on our walk, the other when their parents bring them to play on the grass on Country Club Vista Circle. For a lot of us, our real education was from the street. Well, these kids are literally learning from the street. They live at the end of Tanuri Drive, so there’s no traffic in front of their home, making the pavement a perfect place to have a classroom.
With area parks closed, once or twice a day, the family has play-time on the grassy circle, often arriving pulling the kids in a wagon. (The live about 3/4 of a mile from the circle.) This family is fortunate. It has resources making adjustments easy.
The children Joy teaches reading (Literacy Connects) are not so lucky. They are probably in the streets because their home, maybe that of a diabetic grandmother, is no place to stay for long periods. The children and adults that Literacy Connects serve will suffer the most and may never completely recover from the effects of this pandemic, even if they stay healthy.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
Hiking Ventana Canyon — December 13, 2019 — Photo-Essay by Kenne
Ventana Canyon is one of several narrow canyons in the southern front range of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Arizona. This hike is usually scheduled each fall and spring by the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists, which involves crossing water over a dozen times.
As the front moved through, we started to get some rain.
We received about one-quarter inch, the first rain in two months.
Images by kenne
Bighorn Fire (Sabino Canyon Smoke) — Images by Marty Horowitz
It has now burned over 32,000 acres and is only 40% contained.
Almost 1,000 personal with a lot of land and air support equipment continue to fight the fire.
Images were taken about three miles from the front ridge of the range.
Each image was captured at various times on June 18th.
Images by kenne
Bees On Thistles — Photo Essay by kenne
Yucca Blossom in Molino Basin (April 24, 2020) — Photo Essay by kenne
Arizona Trail on Horseback — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Thistles — Images by kenne
Ed Rawl; Thursday Elementary School Program (3/3/16)
Ed Rawl (January 10, 2019)
Dan Granger and Ed Rawl with Members of the American Senior Housing Association (11/07/14)
Ed Rawl Guiding Some of the Appalachian Mountains Club Members to Hutch’s Pool (04/08/14)
SCVN Friday Hikes with Ann Nierenberg, Ed Rawl, Dan Granger and Tim Ralph (6/22/12)
Ed Rawl and Naturalist Jan Labiner Hiking to Seven Falls (10/17/2013) 
Hiking to Thimble Peak — Naturalists Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Phil Bentley, and Alexa Von Bieberstein at the Gorden Hirabayashi Campground (11/07/13)
Tim Ralph, Ed Rawl, Alexa Von Bieberstein, and Phil Bentley (11/07/13)
Country Club Vista Circle In Tanuri Ridge — Image by kenne
Hiking Ventana Canyon — December 13, 2019 — Photo-Essay by Kenne
