There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount , a perfect ratio of water to rock, water to sand, insuring that wide free open, generous spacing among plants and animals, homes and towns and cities, which makes the arid West so different from any other part of the nation. There is no lack of water here unless you try to establish a city where no city should be.

― Edward Abbey

Dan sent the above photo of the view out of his front window this morning. The city that never sleeps woke up under a thick blanket of fresh snow. New York always looks so impossibly clean after a fresh snowfall. Meanwhile, Dave in Boston sent us a couple of short videos of his and Maren’s new dog, Puck, roaring around the backyard, chest deep in snow. Not her first sight of snow, but certainly the first time that it was delivered to her doorstep, as if by Amazon.

I was pawing through the photo archive and while viewing pics from our trip west last year, I first found a picture of a plaque with the above Edward Abbey quote. Later, I found the photograph of Weeping Rock and thought that the two went so well together. I spoke with my dad earlier this week and he reported that they had gotten their first bit of rain for the season. Not much and a little late, but welcomed still the same. It is long past time to put the fire season away.

Earlier this week, we got an inch of rain. Enough to trigger the sump pump to life. It likes to lie in wait until I’m near it, doing laundry in the basement, before it bellows out its roar that always makes me jump. However, the skies cleared yesterday, so that by sundown I had an excellent view of the Great Conjunction. Jupiter and Saturn are already unusually close to each other and with the new moon is in the vicinity too. These three astronomical bodies make for quite the heavenly sight. Using our bird spotting scope, I could plainly see the moons of Jupiter and just made out the oval outline of Saturn’s rings. I tried photographing them last night, but got no joy. I have a new idea and will try again tonight.