A WTF Kinda Week

Sabino Canyon Dam

Last week was a doozy. I decided to go to Sabino Canyon for a short hike up to the dam. It's FULL of water, which sounds obvious to most people, but here in Southern Arizona, most of our water is seasonal. Like, our main river, the Santa Cruz, doesn't even flow most of the year. But we'd had a lot of rain recently, and the mountains got even more, so water was a-flowing! It was a beautiful day, low 70s, sunny, light breeze. Me and a billion other people were out to enjoy the park.


The hike to the dam is about a mile, and an easy one. I had fun though, walking in the dry river beds, checking out the recent flash flood damage. Climbing on big rocks. Enjoying the cold spray from the waterfall.

Look at all that water!

And somehow, even after all the sandy stretches I'd gone through, and rocks I clambered over, I managed to roll my ankle on one of the flattest, easiest paths. By the Nature Center, so of course, when I fell on my face, it was in front of a bunch of people. It's the same ankle that I trashed a few years ago, and never fully healed. Luckily I was okay enough to get back home, but I've had to spend the last week icing it, wrapping it, and avoiding doing anymore walking/standing than absolutely necessary. What a pain!

Can climb all over this, 

twist my ankle on flat ground.

We had a huge storm system that was supposed to roll in Wednesday evening, but when I woke up Thursday, it still hadn't arrived. But that was great, because Truby had a date with the dentist. The storm was postponed to later morning, so I went out at 8am to let Tru and Cinco out for a little bit before the vet arrived.

I was dumping a wheelbarrow when I saw someone wandering around the barn aisle wearing a parka. Yup, my Tucson born vet had arrived! We joked about the weather (chilly, windy, and overcast), and got Truby ready for her dental.

You are getting sleepy....

Once she was all nice and sleepy, we got a good look and feel in her mouth. She was in great shape, with no sores and just some itty bitty points forming on her teeth. I got to get a good look and even stick my hand in and feel her teeth! It was really cool.

Toofs

At the very end, Truby was awake enough to start backing up

I volunteered to stand behind her and brace.

It worked! Also, Truby bums are super comfy.

She was so sleepy

It didn't take long to get her finished, and good timing, because my vet had to head off to an emergency. I took Truby back to her stall, and read while she slept off her sedation. After awhile I decided to grab something to eat, because it was getting really cold sitting in the barn! It was starting to feel damp and raw, and just reading quietly made me really cold. By the time I came back, Truby was awake and indignant about being kept in a stall without any foods. The horror! I let her back out to play with Cinco for a little bit. My weather app telling me the storm was going to start SOON.

Impending doom

After about 40 minutes, there was no rain in sight, but the wind had really picked up, and the temperature had dropped. Truby and Cinco both met me at the gate, and were quite happy to go back in their stalls. By this time (1pm) the storm system was supposed to be on top of us, but it would actually be around 7pm that the first bit of rain finally started!

Falling asleep to the steady tap-tap-tap of rain on the roof, it made me happy to know Truby was snug in her blankie with lots of hay and new, fluffy shavings. I was extra glad when I woke up Friday morning and it was still raining steadily, and quite cold! I saw there was even some snow flurries in Oracle, which is north and west of us. Snow was falling in surprising low elevations of the mountains (Like, all the mountains. The Catalinas, the Rincons, The Santa Ritas, and even the Tucson Mountains!)

I was positive that I still wasn't going to get any snow, so I was stunned when I opened the door to go to work and there were HUGE flurries falling! I woke up the husband, and we marveled at the snow for a few minutes before I headed off to work.

I don't think I've every seen snow flakes so big before! About halfway to work I decided to pull over and take some videos of our desert winter wonderland. It was unbelievable.

I got to watch the snow fall all day. And while both my coworkers had several cancellations, every single one of my appointments showed up. I was so disappointed! I would have loved to get out early and ride Truby in the snow! Let's face it, riding bareback in the snow is fun anyway, but during a rare desert snow? Magical.

I snuck out of work to take some snow pics

Too bad for me though, the snow started to melt around 1pm. Which was made even worse by the fact that it continued to snow until almost 2pm. And by the time I was ready to leave work at 3:30, almost all the snow was already gone. I decided to just go home. My ankle was killing me, apparently very angry that I stood on my feet all day. I heard from my barn friends that by the afternoon, there was no snow, just muddy and cold.

So, my SECOND desert snowstorm was pretty amazing! I'm happy that I got to watch it all day. But I am disappointed I didn't get to go out and enjoy it with Truby. But, still. I shouldn't complain. Desert snow, how amazing!

Happy me!

Very sad cholla

The Catalinas completely cloaked with snow.