Desert Changes

When I first moved to the desert 9 years ago, I was amazed by the intense summer heat and the beautiful summer storms. I used to go for walks every night with my husband and we pulled the kids in their wagon. It was the only time of the day, unless you were swimming, that we could actually be outdoors and not cook in the sun.

On our walks we would watch the night sky and the show mother nature would put on for us. There were incredible lightning storms every night produced by the heat of the day. The lightning flashed across the sky, never coming down to strike the ground. The bolts were large and bright and constant, they never seemed to end. We loved watching it and considered ourselves lucky to live in such an amazing place.

During the summer afternoons, we used to watch huge storms blow in. We could literally see the wall of a storm approaching and would cheer about the incoming rain. Living in the desert sun, we grew to love the rains. Out here, these storms are called monsoons. We loved the monsoons and they came frequently. Once our back yard had flooded with more than 4 inches of rain water. We had to dig small trenches to the street to drain the yard and we loved it. The roads would flood and we would watch the desert washes fill with water and run hard.

Now, 9 years later, we see little if any of these old storms anymore. Many other families and businesses also decided that living in the desert was the place for them. There has been a huge population growth and building in the area hasn't stopped. We never have lightning storms, rarely have monsoons, and the washes are dry.

I realize that my family and I are part of the problem, we chose to live here too. How do I do my part to change what we have lost?