The "Almost a Hit" game

Old-TV-Nut! Are you in Arizona? I looked on Google Maps Images. There are no lawns. It's that hot?
A grass lawn is an expensive luxury here as it requires continual irrigation. People who are unfamiliar with the desert here think of sand dunes, but really it's some sand over a hard consolidated earth called "caliche" ("Kah-Lee-Chay"). No dunes, but plenty of dry washes that flood in rain storms. To plant anything, you first need to dig a hole with a pick-axe. "Lawns" are usually covered with gravel to keep the sandy dust down. Those big saguaros have wide, shallow root systems, a survival trick to absorb the occasional rain before any other plant gets it.

Due to the dryness, daily temperature variation is often around 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter lows can go below freezing a dozen or so nights a year. Summer highs regularly go over 100 F. The local TV stations call the first day of 100 "breaking the ice." June through September brings "monsoon season," where the SW high pressure area moves from south central AZ to around the four-corners area, bringing in moisture and thunderstorms. There usually is some less-vigorous rain activity in the winter.

Early February was cold this year (highs in the 50s), but it eventually averaged out. This week we have highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 40s, sunny to hazy or partly cloudy.
 
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