October 7 -- A Variety Of Clouds, And A Douglas Grocery Run Tomorrow...

Los Angeles had no clouds -- there, I've said it. While it undoubtedly has gorgeous weather, and sure, it has things in the sky that passes for clouds -- but it's all kind of blah and gets monotonous after awhile. Only when the monsoonal flow comes through -- and that isn't very often -- does it get even a semblance of the clouds that are here in SE Arizona. (Of course, if the El Nino forecast for this winter becomes a reality, then I take it all back). And what a display they put on all day here. First, just before sunrise; the clouds here are backlit by the rising sun. Someone on a Facebook site where I posted this said she saw a teddy bear in the middle of the photo, with its back to us and blowing smoke -- probably, as this is a ranching area, smoking Marlboros --

Still before sunrise, and looking to the north the clouds are lit up by the still below-the-horizon sun -- 

The sun finally comes up, and lights up the rock formations on the lower part of Portal Peak, while clouds pass through the scene -- 

I spend most of the day inside as I'm on the "cusp" of having a cold; at this point it can go either way. So I'm resting and staying warm, even sleeping on occasion, but always keeping an eye out (when they're not closed) for the next photo-op. It comes later that morning -- what looks to be a large billowy cloud possibly on its way to becoming a thunderhead -- 

Since I'm spending most of the day inside Faranuf, I decide to "microadjust" my Canon 100-400 f/5.6 telephoto lens. I've had a program called Focal for several years now; you link your computer to your camera, and the downloaded software microadjustment setting for your particular lens. What that does is find the lens' "sweet spot", where it's at its sharpest -- and you set the microadjustment in your camera settings to that particular number that the Focal software found. It's a somewhat laborious setup as you have to put the supplied "target" onto a wall that is white, and the available light can't be changing as the sun does when clouds pass in front of it. So -- good steady light, then your camera with lens mounted on a sturdy tripod -- there should be no camera shake, so refrain from dancing during the test --, the viewfinder covered up so no light enters, the camera put on specific settings so you can move the microadjustment slider in the menu around, connect the camera to the computer, focus the lens on the center of the target,  then let the program take over. It takes a series of shots, comapares them, and decides which microadjustment value is the best for your lens. All lenses are differerent, even the same make of lens, so the value is almost never the same. Mine turns out to be -1 on a scale of -20 to +20. You set the camera to a -1 reading, then take some shots -- and it focuses faster, and is a clearer image, than before. So I accomplish that during my enforced time inside, and that makes me a happy, if congested, camper once again. Meanwhile, I'm keeping an eye on the clouds... In the afternoon, one forms in the north. It looks like an anvil cloud, flat on top, that could portend dangerous weather is given time to form, and is still early in the afternoon -- 

All during this time I'm also making a list for my "Douglas Run" tomorrow. Even when I buy in fairly large quantities I'm finding that I still have to go to the grocery store about every 2 weeks. I found out from my sister-in-law that most anything can be frozen -- milk (the higher the percentage of fat the better), butter, bread -- most of the staples. Eggs, however, can't, but I use them mainly for cooking and making desserts so one box lasts a long time. I buy 20-pound bags of sugar for the hummingbird nectar I make (1 part sugar to 4 parts water) -- and here it is a month later  I'm nearly out of it. The best place to go in Douglas for one-stop shopping is Wal-Mart. A friend of mine said that,  like me, she doesn't like the way they treat their employees, but when you're living so far from conveniences you take for granted when living in the city, well, you can't afford to be so choosy. So tomorrow it's a visit in the "big city" for me. Meanwhile, the clouds.. The weather reports for that day were calling for a better than 50% chance of thunderstorms, but except for some cloud buildup it didn't seem to be happening. But towards sunset the clouds grew bigger and more ominous until you could tell it was raining underneath them --

Then an amazing thing happened -- well, TWO amazing things. Two clouds next to each other formed separate "anvil heads"; these clouds can be pretty dangerous to anyone living underneath them.  But from a distance they were magnificent. Here they are as viewed from my front porch -- 

Lightning was flashing underneath them; just an awesome sight. Here's a closeup of the one on the left --

Then come sunset, they dissipated. Mysterious, powerful, yet ephemeral -- the weather here is just one of the things that makes Cochise County, and the east side of the Chiricahuas, so special.