I’ve been sleeping outside on the patio because it’s Lent and it’s my little sacrifice, but I also enjoy it. The weather is nice, and in Phoenix, you really have to savor spring because the summer is long.; I woke up around three in the morning to earthshaking thunder. It’s one thing to wake up to an buzzing alarm clock, but it’s quite different to wake up to a thunder clap. But I wasn’t scared–I was so happy I could barely fall back asleep. The 143-day drought is over!

It’s about ten in the morning, and it is still raining. I am sitting at Candyce’s coffee shop and everyone is scurrying in with their umbrellas. People in Arizona don’t get to use their umbrellas except maybe five times a year, so popping off the rain outside the door is a treat for us.

Everyone here is so excited. I mean, people are smiling because it has rained as much as it has, and every time we look out the window, we see more rain coming down. The parking lots are filled with puddles. Finally the dust won’t clog the sky. Rejoice citizens of Phoenix!

I usually get here to the coffee shop earlier, but it was easy to sleep in when it was cloudy. I think it’s Feng Shui that says you should sleep with your bed positioned so your wake up with your face to the east. I’m sure this means something spiritually, but practically, it’s hard to sleep in with the sun shining in your face. I mean, it’s painful to sleep in an extra fifteen minutes with the world’s biggest flash light in your face.

But this morning there was no sun because there was only clouds–nature’s snooze button. I slept until nine, and then I laid there for another half hour just listening to the rain. I could almost hear my lawn laughing with relief.

In the more northern parts of the valley it actually snowed. So all of those tall desert saguaros are dusted with white. I imagine the nature photographers are scrambling to get up there and snap some photos before it all melts. A snow-covered cactus is guaranteed to make at least one month in a nature calendar.

I am just so excited today. I guess this is how the people of Boston felt when the Red Sox finally won.

:::

On another note, I just saw in the paper that Toyota is really going to manufacture the retro-styled FJ–a vintage Jeep-looking truck. I first saw the FJ a few years ago in magazines, but most cars that cool never make it to the showrooms. I’m happy to see more stylish cars being made. Right now we have the Chrysler 300, the Dodge Magnum, the Ford Mustang, the Scion xB, the Nissan 350, the Honda Element, the Hummer H3, and the Mini Cooper. These cars make driving the streets more interesting. Who wants to be stuck in traffic behind a Toyota Camry?

Toyota FJ Cruiser