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Is This Spring, Really?

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Commemorating the First Day of Spring

Spring in Southern California is not as distinctive a season as it is back east, where it is associated with an end to snow and slush. All this week, the temperature has been near 100° Fahrenheit (37° Celsius), even near the beach. Further inland, heat records were broken with dismaying regularity.

The one distinctive spring weather pattern is associated with the terms “Marine Layer” and ”June Gloom.” The wind comes from the ocean and blows clouds inland. Tourists visiting Southern California in the spring always say that they always heard the sun is always shining here. In fact it is, but between the sun and the ground there are clouds and the weather tends to be cool.

I say “tends” because over the past few years, the pattern has been changing. There have been tropical heat waves in the winter, rain falling earlier and later than usual, and even an occasional cold snap. I have no idea where the weather is tending, whether California will become even more desert-like, or whether the rainy season will result in a wetter climate.

It’s always quite beautiful when we’ve had a good rainy season. The California Poppy Preserve in the Antelope Valley becomes full of wildfires. Even the Mohave Desert can appear to be carpeted with tiny, but utterly lovely wildflowers.

But then, all these climactic weather megatrends will not be clear until long after I am gone. All I know is that the weather is very different from when I first moved here in 1966. Will the San Andreas or Cascadia fault result in massive earthquakes? Will the Central Valley be flooded? Or will water become increasingly scarce and make the big cities of California unlivable? (My bet is on the latter.)

Letting It All Hang Out

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Sea Lions at Marina Del Rey’s Chace Park

Today at Marina Del Rey’s Chace Park I was able to escape the heat for a couple of hours. The weatherman said that there would be the beginnings of an onshore flow (sea breeze), and he was right. It was utterly delightful, except that the coolness attracted a lot of young men who were loudly attesting to their street cred, making it difficult for me to read.

That’s all right, I walked to a bench in the shade at Stone Point, where the cool breeze that has not been present all week during the current heat wave cooled my head. Funny thing, as I returned to my parked car, I felt the wind die down and the temperature rise every hundred feet (30 meters). By the time I sat in my car, I felt I was in a sauna.

When the weather is unrelievedly hot, the thing to do is make like a lizard. But, since we are at the edge of the sea, make like a sea lion. I watched the sea lions for a few minutes, trying to determine whether they were in fact harbor seals. As soon as I heard one of them make the characteristic barking sound, I knew that they were in fact sea lions. The other identification is to check whether they have visible ears, but I wasn’t close enough to be 100% certain.

In any case, these sea lions were doing the right thing on a hot day.

Autumn Heat

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Martine at Chace Park in the Marina

Predictably, we are in the middle of an autumn heat wave. No, I did not go to Chace Park today. This time of year, the wind blows hot air from the desert; so there is little to be gained waiting for sea breezes that are not likely to cool my brow.

Martine went downtown by herself to partake of the high-toned atmosphere around Union Station and the Civic Center. (Am I being ironic? To be sure I am being ironic.)

Tomorrow I may go downtown, though I may bail if the temp gets too high, like 95° degrees Fahrenheit (35° Celsius) or above. That walk from the Metro Rail 7th Street Station to the Central Library would be prohibitively hot. I will check the temp tomorrow morning before making my decision.

I have become very dependent on the weekly Mindful Meditation sessions at the Central Library. Then, too, there are those seven floors of books that draw me in.

August Is for Lizards

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We’ve had it pretty easy up until now. We all knew that the heat would suddenly descend on us along the Southern California coast, just as it has for weeks in the East, South, and Midwest.

Even now, it is nowhere near as hot and sticky here as it is inland or in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys. (And we won’t even mention the Coachella Valley.)

Living as we do in an apartment building without any insulation, let alone air conditioning, it can get hot after a few days of heat radiating toward our walls and roof—and it can stay hot. Martine and I have fans going all over the place. It helps, particularly after the sun goes down; but dropping off to sleep is not easy.

I was going to cook a minted rice casserole for supper. As dinner time approached, however, I gave up on the idea. What? Turn on the oven on a day like this? No way José!

Instead I had some blue cheese with Ritz crackers, a glass of unsweetened ice tea, and a white peach.

Based on past experience, I knew the heat wave would last for days, perhaps even weeks, longer than the weather forecasters said it would. Time to live like a lizard!

Summer Is Icumen In

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The Malibu Pier at Sunset

It’s not quite here yet, but it’s coming. Lhude sing cuccu … or whatever. Summer has its moments in Southern California. Mostly, it’s just hot.

This time of year, I like to read works by William Faulkner (this summer, I’ll tackle his Collected Short Stories) and travel books about Arabia and India (I’ve already begun Charles M. Daughty’s Travels in Arabia Deserta, Volume I). Then, too, I will read the Travis McGee novels of John D. MacDonald and some Icelandic detective stories.

I will drink ungodly amounts of iced tea. I know it’s a powerful diuretic, but it does moisten the palate. This summer, it will mostly be the Ceylon loose tea from Ahmad of London. After the autumn equinox, I’ll switch to Darjeeling (when I need a lift) or Baruti or Ghalami Assam.

When it gets too hot, we’ll have a picnic lunch at Chace Park in the Marina and revel in the cool sea breezes, which typically die within a few hundred feet of the shore.

I will sleep without covers at night, usually with the window open. I will have to listen to all the dysfunctional car alarms, the patron’s of the bar across the street, and the cursing and moaning of all the street people.

In the end, it’s doable. One thing I will not do is travel—unless I could afford a flight to Alaska or Patagonia. The desert will be blisteringly hot, and we are surrounded by hundreds of miles of desert.

The Bajada Loop

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Touring by Car Through the Saguaro National Park West

After spending the early part of a super hot day at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, we stopped at the nearby western portion of the Saguaro National Park. Taking a hike in the oven-like heat was out of the question, so we decided to survive the day with a modicum of comfort.

First, we spent some time at the National Park visitor center viewing the exhibits and a slide show about the Tucson Mountain District portion of the park. Then, with the air conditioner on, with drove the six-mile Bajada Loop. The road was unpaved, but well maintained. The view, especially for the southern part of the loop, was outstanding. The desert floor was crowded with fat, healthy saguaro cacti and other desert flora. Because I was driving, I didn’t take any pictures with my camera—especially as my windows were covered with dirt, smashed insects, and bird poop.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to see the eastern, or Rincon Mountain District, portion of the Saguaro National Park. No problem: I am not finished with Tucson and would gladly come back, but when the weather was more tolerable.

Dinos in the Desert

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Animatronic Dinosaur at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Until Sunday, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson has animatronic dinosaurs interspersed with the flora and fauna of its regular exhibits. When Martine and I were in the snack shop eating our breakfast, we kept hearing roars. It didn’t take long to find out that these roars were coming from life-sized dinosaurs that moved around and roared.

I can understand why the dinosaurs are a temporary exhibit. As the temperature approaches 120° Fahrenheit (49° Celsius), the dinosaurs could melt. When we were at the museum, the mercury stood at 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius). It was enough to make me seek shade, water, and seating in that order.

Notice the Freshly Hatched Dino Eggs

The dinosaurs are a clever attempt to engage the interest of small children, who tend to be dinosaur experts.

Heat and Traffic

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Record Heat in Arizona—During April Yet!

Martine and I seem to have bad luck when it comes to visiting the desert. Several years ago, we spent two weeks in New Mexico during which the mercury climbed to over 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius) on each and every day. But of course, that was June; and June in New Mexico is hot, even before the summer solstice.

But April!? The five days we spent in Arizona broke heat records for four of the days, going as high as 102° Fahrenheit (39° Celsius) on the worst of them.

The other problem we had was heavy traffic: In Arizona, we ran into two traffic jams, both on the I-10. The first was between Buckeye and Phoenix as we sought Arizona 202 to supposedly bypass the worst of the city traffic, and the second as we approached Tucson and ran into an unexplained jam south of Casa Grande. On the return trip, we spent two hours in a jam on I-10 between Palm Springs and Cabazon.

Other than these two negative notes, we had a wonderful time. The things we chose to see were eminently worth seeing, and both of us enjoyed them immensely. They were, in the order we saw them:

  • The Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley
  • The Pima Air & Space Museum in South Tucson
  • The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson
  • Saguaro National Park (just north of the Desert Museum)
  • Mission San Xavier del Bac on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation

In the days to come, I will describe these destinations as well as some general observations about the Tucson area.

Desert Dreams

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Cacti at the Moorten Cactus Garden in Palm Springs

In the next few weeks, I will be making two road trips to the desert. First, this weekend I will spend a long weekend with my brother in Palm Desert. I don’t know how much I’ll be seeing inasmuch as we are in the middle of March Madness. No matter, because a few weeks later, Martine and I will be driving to Tucson, where we will definitely do some concentrated sightseeing.

I love the desert—but not in the summer! Several years ago, Martine and I flew to New Mexico and drove around in a rental car during the month of June. Every day, the temperature was in the three-digit range, often hitting 110° Fahrenheit (43° Celsius). There were times I was afraid to touch the handle of my rented Hyundai lest I leave behind the skin of my hand.

During the cooler months, however, especially when the wind isn’t blowing too strongly, the desert puts forth its most welcoming aspect. And April is one of the nicest times, as the floor of the desert is full of tiny wildflowers.

I don’t know what I’ll find in the Coachella Valley and Southern Arizona, but I have high hopes. And you can be sure that I’ll have some pictures to share with you.

The Heat Wave Continues

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Today was the fourth (or was it the fifth?) day of a brutal heat wave. I haven’t been able to accomplish much, and I refuse to cook any meals, as long as my living quarters resemble a sweat lodge.

If there are still any climate change deniers out there, I invite them to ascend a podium in the middle of the afternoon wearing a winter coat and explain their position in a hours-long speech without dropping dead.