Ahhhh...

This morning, as is our habit, we walked (with all three dogs!) a couple of miles up a small hill near our home. We haven't seen very much dense fog this year (mostly it has been below us), but this morning we were completely encased in thick, soupy fog.

I love walking in this weather – the sounds and smells of our chaparral environment are all amplified tremendously. We heard quail and rabbits (lots of rabbits!), and smelled the sages and other pungent desert plants. The dogs go a little bit crazy when the humidity is so high, as they can smell so much better. The fog was so dense today that large amounts were condensing on tree leaves and dripping down, leaving wet circles around every tree. At one point where a eucalyptus tree is overhanging a piece of pavement, there is a wet spot and a pleasant sound like a light rain. Just beautiful!

The graph above shows you our temperature (red, left scale) and humidity (green, right scale) for the past week. You can see that we've been on a cooling trend for the past few days, and the classic desert humidity “rail-to-rail” swings are in evidence. Though this morning it is 52°F and 100% relative humidity, in just a couple of hours it is likely to be about 85°F and under 5% relative humidity, with perfectly clear, blue skies.

Davy and Alfredo came to work just as we left for our walk, at about 5:45 am – much earlier than usual. When we got back, I talked with him and discovered that he knew all about the cool, damp morning and rushed out here early to take advantage of it. That's exactly what I do when I work outside in the summer – start early in the morning. But me, I stop when it gets hot – usually 10 or 11 am. Davy and his son will keep working until at least 4 pm, right through the heat…