Tucson's green desert

The desert in Southern Arizona around Tucson is green and lush after receiving about 12 inches of rain this summer! Last year's monsoon season skipped us and this year it dumped record rainfall. Monsoon season typically isn't over until the end of September, so we might get even more.

Here's a good before and after comparison from one of my favorite vistas in Catalina State Park. This morning I took the lush photo above. The one below is from the same spot before the rains came.

The desert is also bursting with flowers and butterflies. There were hundreds of small yellow-orange butterflies flitting about this morning, but I couldn't capture them in my photos. They're also thick in my backyard.

Here are some desert blooms from this morning in the Catalina Mountains:

The orange ones are poppies -- which are also carpeting highway medians around town -- and the white one is datura.

The purple ones are morning glories, and they were glorious this morning! There must've been thousands of them lining the trails.

We also came across a hiker with beautiful flowers blooming on her arm.

And I can't forget the Western Diamondback rattlesnake that crossed our path. My friend Beth was walking in front of me and thankfully she was paying attention and spotted it. I was looking out over the hills for good photos and probably would've stepped on it. We guessed that it was about four or five feet long. It raised its rattle in warning but didn't shake it.

The scenery looked like it could have come from the Midwest, except for the mountains. This is highly unusual, and I'm grateful that I'm getting to experience it firsthand. The rains have also lowered our temperatures somewhat, with highs this summer mostly in the 90s instead of the 100s of last year.

Enjoy!!!

Have a colorful day