Willy Wonka Was Here

The riverbed I walk splits where I go into it. One portion is the watershed for the Catalina mountains and stretches east and north, while the other part heads east and a little south, and must be drainage for local streets.

There are very few storm sewers in Tucson, which means that when it chubascoes (??), we often have many untraversable streets. There's even a law that has been nicknamed the "Stupid Motorist Law" that makes citizens pay for their rescue if they drive into a blockaded street washout and get stuck. Every year there's a few who do. Many of the downtown underpasses have graphs on the side, saying in big bold print, "FEET OF WATER." It's an anomaly that most visitors comment on, but the truth is, they're very handy this time of year!

The northeastern part of the riverbed is where I find the potsherds, and where most people go to walk their dogs. The southeastern one is more secluded, wild, not as wide. Today it was Willy Wonka's chocolate river, bucking and rolling and frothing and so forth. It was Angus' first exposure to the river and he did great. Leery at first, but soon plunging in and leaping around and doing the puppy rush, zooming careening circles around me. It made me laugh to see him turning into a WaterDog. I was standing at the point where those 2 parts meet, watching the water churn away, watching the old dog and young dog enjoying the scene.

Sun Bear is an old pro at the water game. When we lived in the boonies, the San Pedro river ran more often than the Rillito ("my" river) and she loved nothing more than to go swimming in the summer heat. But she is old enough to be sedate about her ecstacy, savoring a stroll through the shallows vs. playing dolphin.

How nice to see water running around on the ground, get muddy, and indoctrinate the puppy all at once!

ciao for now....