Black-headed Grosbeak

With my brother and sister-in-law here, I was able to take a short break and drive up to Madera Canyon where I nabbed this shot of a Black-headed Grosbeak.  It was a nice break.

The monsoon officially ends on 30 September.  The storms usually wind down pretty early in the month.  The local paper was so confident that it was over that in Sunday's paper they published the seasonal rainfall from different gauges around town.  Everyone of them recorded between 5-6 inches/~14 cm. Well, surprise, Tuesday, steady rain, most of it pretty heavy, fell for what seemed like forever and we got 3.5 inches during that single day.   I have been here through eleven monsoons and I have never experienced so much rain within 24-hours. The great thing about it was that it broke our triple-digit temperatures.  From now through the end of the month the highs are forcast to be a much more pleasant 92°/33°

John and Lore' stayed late and were to leave early in the morning.  It was the first time they actually came straight here from Albuquerque, about an 8 hour drive, rather than their usual layover at their house in Phoenix.  It was a shame they would come all this way and be here for a total visit of 28 hours.  But that's their usual M.O. so I wasn't all that surprised.  Maybe next time?

Sorry for the dearth of comments and replies lately. Thanks to all for the comments, stars and hearts.  It's been insane here with moving stuff between houses and every other thing associated with consolidating two households...not to mention the freaking car door being ripped off. (I might have it back next Friday.)  Hopefully, things will settle down within the next couple of months.  I hope to be able to schedule the estate liquidation and prepare the house and get it sold within that time.  Then...whew!  I'll be able to breathe again!