Walter's delivered his load in Calexico.
He tells me there are huge retirement complexes going up everywhere in Yuma, Az. They seem to use a lot of water, because around them is all green. And that doesn't happen there without irrigation.
In Calexico he saw a bunch of sheep. Grazing. On urban land.
Irrigated urban land.
Green.
--Are they Navaho? I ask.
--No, no. Not a reservation anywhere in sight.
--Are they weed control animals, like goats?
--No. Someone's growing grass here, and grazing sheep, on purpose.
We're both mystified.
Hmmm.
Tax sheep?
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About Me
- k
- I'm a nice quiet middle-aged former bankbuster, disabled since age 32 with a myriad of weird health issues. I love heat and humidity and odd hobbies like fossil hunting, tromping around in the Everglades, backyard bricklaying, and rescuing plants damaged by our spate of hurricanes. Oh - I like to live-blog hurricanes, too.***** I have a wonderful life. I'm one of the happiest people I know. Why? I don't know.***** I also have nightmare memories in my head that would send some folks around the bend. But that's another story, one I don't tell much, and I seem to have made it past the horror parts pretty well.***** I have nothing to prove so it's hard to insult me. I know who I am. I own the space I live in - and I don't mean just my house. My life is way far from perfect, but I'm content.***** For some readers, that would make this a boring blog. For others, my fun adventures, absurd health episodes, and particular way of looking at things keep 'em entertained enough, in the end.
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4 comments:
Well...nice farming weather--just add water!
Truthfully though, retirement communities use far less water than the agricultrual fields they replace. So it is a net good thing if water is the limiting factor.
Alfalfa, cotton, pecan groves--all high water users and all ubiquitous in central and western AZ.
Yuma is a hellacious place in summer though. Hotter than Phoenix which is hotter than Tucson. When I'm a little warm at 105, Yuma is roasting somewhere around 115+. If a person is going to retire to Yuma, they ought to have a summer place somewhere else. Probably cheaper than paying for air conditioning through the summer months there.
The water needs of ag use are legendary. It's a subject I try to never get embroiled in because I'm afraid I'll never come back out. Especially since I know I'd get into the history of Western riparian rights & fights and that's a lifetime subject all on its own.
So the retirees use less water than ag! Makes sense.
Walter tells me he saw a date palm farm in AZ as he was going through. For some reason this really tickled him.
Me, I like it hot, too, but not 115. I often work outside in 92/92 weather (92 degrees, 92% humidity) which is about equivalent to 105 degrees elsewhere, or around 110 in the desert. But I do take a lot of breaks, come inside, drink ice cold water and Diet Sprite. It makes a difference. Especially when you're doing heavy physical labor in that heat.
People who say the humidity makes no difference haven't experienced it. I like it humid, I'm a tropical gal. But if I'm away from it for a while, it still takes me about 3 weeks to completely readjust.
Oh yes, we have date palms, but they are mostly in the southwestern corner of the state, because they need it *really* hot to ripen properly. They won't ripen in Tucson. Muy delicioso straight off the farm!
Yep. People roll their eyes about the "dry heat" thing here, but it is definitely more comfortable in June when it is 110 and parched than it is in July when it is 105 with thunderclouds on the horizon.
Right now it is incredibly perfect. I try not to get jaded and accustomed to how nice we can have it in the fall and spring. Warm, dry, nary a cloud in the sky for days on end...
Yes! kmom sees me walk right by things like our stunning sunsets and sometimes she may think I don't notice them. I do. I'll pull the car over to admire them, or get out and just feel the perfect air on my skin.
You know, I've never eaten a date in my life.
The fruit I mean.
hmmm. digging myself deeper with every word. ;)
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