Sometimes, A River Runs Through It!

It was just a week ago while we were driving niece Kathy from Chicago around town. She kept seeing all these bridges and dry washes, and we told her that occasionally they run bank-to-bank when we get a good rain. Well, for proof, here we are - a little over 2" of rain in two days at the "official" location at the airport. Upstream at Mount Lemmon, they had over 5 inches yesterday, and likely something close to that again today. So our friend Donna, who is down in Tucson lending a hand in caring for us and doing chores, talked me into coming along to see if there was water running in the Rillito River about a mile from where we live.

Shown is the Campbell Avenue bridge, where we often gather to watch the bat colony that lives there through the summer emerge. That link shows the dry wash, and in fact Melinda sitting in the wash where a couple feet of water were running today! Also shown in today's picture is the bike path where I've ridden my bike along the "river" countless miles - it is a great place to ride, easy to go for a 25 mile ride without dealing with cars, though you have to watch for joggers, dog walkers and in-line skaters. Today it seemed everyone and their brother were there looking in amazement at real water running in the channel for which it was meant.  The image at left shows our friend Donna documenting the flow herself. The mountains aren't far away, and if there isn't melting snow to slow the flow of precipitation, if the rain were to stop, the flow would likely too in a couple hours. Sometimes you gotta look quick or you will miss seeing it.  Melinda and I have even made midnight runs to see the flow, but a much more convenient schedule today!