Sunday, October 5, 2008

I'm officially declaring it.

The National Weather Service declared the official end of the Arizona Monsoon Season on September 30. The astronomical charts declared September 22, 2008 the official first day of fall. And tonight I am declaring today, October 5, 2008, the official first day of Summer Diminished. 

Those of you not lucky enough to be residents of our fair Valley of the Sun may not know that there is, sadly, no such thing as fall/autumn in Arizona. After living here for almost 4 years now, I can finally discern differences in the other seasons, but fall? Not a chance. And yet, it's not quite as blistering hot as it once was.  It's definitely not fall, but it's also not quite the I-must-get-out-of-here-before-I-sweat-to-death summer. It's "Summer Diminished." And at 85 for our high today, I think it's time to declare it officially begun. (Although I'm afraid that this does not mean we won't return to the high 90s in a week.) This exciting day does, of course, warrant a photo or two. The first one is taken from one of the windows in my kitchen. See the diminished sun? (If not, don't worry, you just don't have the practiced eye of a deseret dweller to determine the sun's nuances.) The second one is at the very end of sunset, just to highlight the presence of clouds in our eternally blue sky. 

I'm still mourning the loss of fall, but hooray for Summer Diminished!

1.  Cooler days, bright evenings, even cooler nights   2.  General Conference!!   3. Brownies & family game night

6 comments:

Madsen Family said...

I second that: yeah, for summer diminished! Arizona heat just might drive me over the edge; however, I am SURE I will be singing a different tune during the Northeast winter months--then I will be giving anything for the Arizona winters. I love snow and winter but it gets so cold here you can't go outside and there's NOTHING to do inside, so I think I will definitely get cabin fever, especially with my squirmy son. Perhaps a trip to Arizona is needed this winter??? Enjoy your summer diminished days and I will keep my fingers crossed that it does NOT creep back into the 90s!

mwells said...

Perfect name! I too look forward to more of these summer diminished days. Nice pic. of the sunset!

Courtney said...

perfect name. September is actually the hardest month for me in Phoenix because it just seems like summer should be winding down and it hasn't. At least in October you can venture outdoors again!

That sai, I am not missing Phoenix right now. Check back with me in February.

Anonymous said...

great post. I think the only fall-ish weather we had was the week following the Hurricane.

Dena said...

I've enjoyed the couple of "summer dimished" days that we've had too. I wish they were all that way and that summer didn't sneak it's way back in. At least our kids can trick-or-treat in just their costumes and don't have to cover up in heavy coats so that no one knows what they are. ;-)

I'm heading up to UT in a couple of days and they have just turned really cold, so even though I'll enjoy the cooler air (probably only in the 50s!), I'll be glad to come back to short sleeves again.

bluestocking mama said...

dena, i'm jealous you get to go to utah. have fun!

jessy, a trip to arizona is DEFINITELY needed this summer.