SPRING HAS SPRUNG, FALL HAS FELL (SIC)

Springtime has returned to our valley. Of course I love it. With one caveat. Summer is coming and that's not good when you reside where we do.

With our Winter rains, we are busting out all over with flower displays. The cactus flower picture is just one example. Mexican poppies have gone nuts this year as well as agave shoots that split their foundations as they point their new growth to the sky.

Bougainvilleas are radiant purple or various shades of red. The smell of orange blossoms is almost sickening in their sweet aroma. So are the yellow monkey balled acacia which strangle me right now. And I used to blame that allergy on the palo verde.

One day two weeks ago when winds were excessive, we observed the pollen just raining down from several trees lining a hole on The Biltmore Links Course. They left bright yellow residue on the bare ground directly under them. They looked like a chemical spill or Weed-B-Gone on steroids.

When the saguaros start blooming, usually in early May, that's indicative of fewer 90 degree days and the onset of triple digits. But for snowbirds who leave before that annual rite of Spring, they're missing something pretty spectacular.