It’s finally October, but we’re still in that kind of strange state where there’s just enough of a combination of summer and “Arizona winter” that it’s neither. Summer is still represented by the daytime air temps, which simply refuse to give up hanging in the 100-degree range. This week, we’ll be around the century mark every day. And, October or no October, make no mistake about it: the sun is still h-o-t hot. Definitely too hot to play golf, work outside, or do my walks during the day.

But there are hints of the Arizona winter around as well. The most noticeable is that the pool temp has crashed. The last couple of nights out on the patio still felt warm to me, but the lows still ended up around 70 and dropped the pool from 80 to 76 in just a few days. While a bit chilly once you get in the water, 80 was nice enough to be refreshing for a few dips this past Saturday, but 76 is chilly no matter which way you slice it. Lots of people put solar covers over their pool this time of year because the sun is still so strong, but the hassle just isn’t worth it as far as I’m concerned.

And preparations are also under way for grass replacement in a couple of weeks as soon as the daily temps drop below 90. Carmelo has the winter rye ready to go, and I’ve shut the water off to kill the grass. This week we’ll be trimming trees to allow the max amount of sun through after an aggressive summer of growth from the mesquite and fruit trees, and it will be interesting to see if our resdeigned sideyard takes this grass seed – so far, it’s been a disappointment.

It’s uncanny how the heat gets shut off the second week of October, and after a few days where it looked like the heat would be around until the third week, the forecast has changed and is now indicating we’ll drop into the low ’80s a week from today. What a welcome change it promises to be!