Transformed

When it rains here the world is completely transformed. Not just nicer looking or more refreshed, but utterly changed.

July has continued the monsoon showers that began in June. The total now is 5 inches since late June. It arrives sporadically but when it comes, the rain pours.

Even though my gardens were irrigated, they look so much better now with the rain. But it is the landscape beyond the tended areas that is so utterly transformed. The open field next to our driveway has gone from brown sand to green weeds and grasses, and it looks like this all over Santa Fe.

Not a lush meadow, not a waving grass prairie, but . . . green. 

You can't see my three little Gambel oaks out there; the suddenly sprouted grasses are hiding the 10 inch tall twigs. But boy are they happy. 

And I have tiny Apache plume shrubs and little Russian sages and a fernbush all drinking up the moisture. There are Maximillian sunflowers too, and an itty bitty desert willow tree, all suddenly perking up with the rain.

I love seeing this transformation take place.