It’s August and, hopefully, by now, we are getting small relief from some Monsoon storms in the southwest. The cicadas should be about done with their loud, annoying, mating calls, and we’ve all been able to complete some of those long-awaited DIY projects to our house or landscaping.
One of the things I like to do this time of year when the water is warm is to sit in my pool at night and star-gaze. Unfortunately, over the past 25 years, all the empty land around my house has been developed with new neighborhoods, 4 public schools, three parks, and 4 churches. All this development has created too much light pollution at night, so my star gazing has been a somewhat less-than-stellar experience than in past years. But we all know that’s the price of progress.
Even with all the development over these many years, I’m still amazed by all the wildlife which continues to roam around our neighbor-hoods. Javelina, coyotes, great-horned owls, bobcats, skunks, roadrunners, and even mountain lions, have made their visits much to the dismay of new city folk moving to Scottsdale who were thinking they were moving into a nice vicinity of the Metro area. Well, it’s still a nice area, they just need to learn how to share with our neighbors who were here first.
I do find humor with of some of the postings on our neighborhood website when a new family moves in and they start seeing all these weird bugs, reptiles, birds, and such. The first thing they want to know…. is it dangerous?
While we enjoy a great deal of nature up close where we live, there is always that chance that something here stings, pokes, scratches, or bites. I learned right off the bat, observe but don’t touch! Take a picture, but don’t touch! Enjoy the beauty, but don’t touch! But there are some people who are like a kid, who doesn’t believe that match will burn until they stick their finger on it and then want Mama to kiss the burnt boo-boo and make it better. Some people.
So, what are you or your friends and family doing to enjoy August? Firing up the grill? Trip to the lake? A picnic? Or just going shopping to get out of the house to have something to do? Whatever your activity, embrace the heat and make the best of it!