Tuesday, January 6, 2015

SNOW MELT . . OR NOT

After a day or two of snowy weather last week, the back yard looked like this.


But cold weather and snow never last very long in Arizona and today, with the temperature in the 50's for the second day in a row, most of the snow is gone.


Last week, the front yard looked like this.


And today . . .


Well, ahem.  The difference comes in the direction the house faces. The front yard lies to the north and is protected from the low-hanging winter sun by shade from the house.  The back yard is nearly fully exposed to the sunlight so the snow disappears there first.

All of which won't make a darned bit of difference next August.

Last week when we were having our snowy, cold days the rest of the country was enjoying mild weather.  Today it's just the opposite. Down here in the southwest corner of the country, it is usually warm and storms like last week's occur rarely.

Which made me think of something else that has irked me for a time. Take a look at this map of the United States.


Take a look at Texas.  How do people get away with saying that state is part of the Great Southwest?  To me, it looks like it's in the South, an area that more aptly should be named the Southeast.  And when I lived in Indiana, that part of the country was called the Midwest.  Who do they think they're kidding?  Indiana obviously resides in the eastern third of the country. Seems like they should say it's in the Middle East.  But then that could be confusing, too, (said the old grouch as he went off to bury himself in his maps.)