Rain, rain

Rain in Tucson is like a good wine. Well, not really, but I've never been good at similes. It gives the desert dwellers a much needed reprieve from the days of roasting. This monsoon season has been drier than usual, according to the expert weatherpeople. But it's always something: too hot, too dry, too wet, too cold, too humid. I don't even know what "normal" is because I've never heard of a monsoon season being normal. It's always something. Perhaps the weatherpeople are trying to help facilitate conversation by telling the public how not-normal these weather patterns are. "Man, it's so dry out here." "Yeah, the weatherlady said we aren't getting as much rain this year as we usually get during monsoon season."
One thing that baffles me is why more Tucsonans don't recycle their rain water. Instead of using brand new water to keep that yard a perfect shade of green, why not use rain water? We are certainly making progress in our water efforts, but not nearly enough. I've heard that it takes a swimming pool full to water a yard of the same size. My question is, how deep does that swimming pool need to be? In any case, we could certainly do better. I hear our primary water source, the Colorado River, is quickly drying up. And guess who is at the end of this river? Thus, guess who will experience the dried-up river first? If you said Tucson, you must at least be at a fourth-grade reasoning level.
My absolute pet-peeve as far as water goes is watering at 2 pm in the middle of a six-month Tucson summer! C'mon, people! Didn't you learn that something like 80 percent of water evaporates at that time of day? Or, perhaps you think the air needs watering. After all, everyone always says "it's a dry heat." I literally cringe when I see sprinklers chik-chiking away within two hours of 2 pm. Jeez. Grass isn't natural to the desert. If you must have grass, then learn proper watering techniques. Personally, I very much enjoy grass. But I also like water. Probably more than grass. I can't exactly survive on grass, though admittedly, I've never tried.
Alternately, if you don't have a yard of grass in the desert, you probably have some sort of rock combo. I would love to hear a parent ask their kid, "Honey, have you done your chores? Did you remember to rake the rocks?" If I were that kid, I would be flabbergasted. "Rake the rocks? What for? They look nice and organized to me." It certainly would make a good excuse to get off the phone with a less-than pleasurable someone from another state. "Hey, I'm sorry, man, I really need to go rake the rocks. My wife is giving me the evil eye."
I'm sorry to end this here but I've got some serious rock-raking to do. Just kidding.