Last Day of Winter in the Valley of the Sun

Linda Burton posting from Phoenix, Arizona — The news is in the numbers.

56 inches at Snowbowl, what a gift! Going out with a flounce, Old Man Winter zapped northern Arizona with a 1-2 punch. Snow Sunday. Snow Monday. Kids out of school. Snowplows out on the road. Snowboards out on the slopes. Boom for business. 29 inches of snow at Flagstaff. I-40 was closed for a while, open now, with slush.

56 degrees was the high today in Phoenix. Normal? 70’s. After all, this is the Valley of the Sun. This is the Season. This is where people come to get away from the cold! But the TV weather-persons were raving about today’s good fortune. Water here, after 90 days with no rain. Precious water.

Spring is official at 10:14 PM today, and the promise of “nearly 90 degrees” by Friday is laid before us. Meanwhile, a hummingbird tried to fly in my window as the cats napped in the afternoon sun, startling the two of them. Just beyond, against the Phoenix skyline, a helicopter rounded the high-rise, headed for the station with footage of Ponderosa pines to the north, branches weighted down with white.

Other news today. Continuing speculation on the why’s of the shootings. 16 civilians, mostly women and children,  shot in Afghanistan by a US soldier. 2 little boys in Phoenix shot by their father, who then shot himself. 1 young man shot by another in Florida.

Ron Barber, Gabby Giffords’ long-time aide, announced in Tucson he will run for a full term in Congress this year. He was shot 2 times in the January 2011 assassination attempt on Giffords, who has vacated her senate seat to focus on her recovery, miraculously surviving a gunshot wound to the head. 13 people were injured and 6 killed in that incident, including a 9-year old girl.