Safe from the storm

Monday evening brought lots of stormy Monsoon weather. Usually the animals in my household aren't too bothered by the lightning and thunder, but this particular storm included lots of really close lightning strikes followed by very LOUD thunder.
My daughter's cat, Bones, found safety in my lap all evening long. Just before going to bed, I sat down to check the weather on my laptop, and sure enough Bones made sure he had a nice spot to settle in. Here he is tucked safely away between the arm of my chair and me.
What I wish I had a picture of is one of my Chihuahua, Chiquita, who spent the entire night huddled up against my head shivering while I tried to sleep. She was really bothered by the thunder. Once the first thunderclap sounded early in the evening, she made sure she was close to me the entire night. Bones, on the other hand, was content just to sleep at my feet. Gee, it's nice to be needed. :)

Rainbow and Silos

As we all know, it gets pretty darn hot during the summer here in Arizona. Triple-digit temps are pretty much the norm. Our Monsoon Season is getting underway and we've had a couple of close calls, but not much has happened -- until today, that is.
My daughter's car is in the shop so she asked me to drop her off at a friend's house. While driving her there, I noticed the clouds were really building up. Within a minute of dropping her off, I drove smack through the middle of a nice downpour. To me, the best part of a monsoon is how quickly the rain can bring down the temperature. In this case, the temperature went from 101 to 89 in an instant.
Another treat brought on by the rain was a gorgeous rainbow that hung in the sky for a good half hour. I live close to the Farm Bureau and stopped to snap a photo of the Morrison Ranch silos, which appear to be the pot of gold, or in this case, pots of silver at the end of the rainbow. :)

(Click the picture for a larger image)