Seems the weather pattern that produced that massive and deadly storm that brought snow and power outages to the Northwest has ushered in some pretty cold (well, at least for here) to the Valley of the Sun. Not only did we get a little rain early on both Sunday and Monday morning, but word is that not too far from here some folks got sleet, and there’s snow to be had up in the mountains a couple of hours from here.

Of course, it’s all relative. The people around here might think it’s chilly, but to this New Englander, it feels like fall golf weather to me. The bougainvillea and lantana are still flowering nicely out back, and the swimming pool vacuum chatters away as if it were just another summer day. Whereas most people up north consider their fall work to include cleaning out the garden, putting up the storm windows, getting the furnace checked, raking leaves, and laying down the winter lawn protection, here, there are palm trees that need to be fed, a swimming pool that needs to be drained and refilled (an every-other-year task), and… well, I guess that’s about it.

…Oh, I did have to sweep the patio to get rid of the of the exta sand that leaked out when we added a new top layer to the sandbox where the tiki bar sits. And, I did sweep out the garage. But I would hardly call them fall tasks (or any tasks, for that matter).

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Footnote: Notice one of the homeowners (Heidi Powell of Corvallis, OR) pictured in the link above? Now that’s my kind of people – she had rabbits out in her greenhouse but brought them in because of the storm, and likely saved their lives in the process! Good job, Heidi – give those buns an extra hug tonight!