The Heat is On: 1 Down, 105 To Go

Yesterday marked the first day this year that hit 100 degrees in Phoenix -- 102 to be exact. Mighty, mighty early, especially considering that last year we didn't get struck with the start of the triple-digit brigade until May 19.

The steering wheel was scorching and it was just too stifling to run in the morning, as I usually do on days when Zach and Allie are in preschool. Apparently there are an average of 106 days with temperatures of 100 degrees or higher in Phoenix, according to our weather forecasters here, who, I'm convinced, from May to October, have one of the easiest jobs around. Pretty hot, hot or really hot.

But anyway, a few days BEFORE the beastly heat snuck up on us, my parents visited. The weather was NICE -- 80s. We took a little walk in Cave Creek and saw lots of flowers in bloom.

Allie and Zach check out the view.

A beautiful magenta bloom -- not as common as the yellow ... at least where we were in the Cave Creek Recreation Area.

The more common yellow-orangish blooms (hope that's not too technical for anyone :)).

Meanwhile, today isn't quite as warm and I'm hoping we might be lucky enough to get at least one more little cool-down before the real stuff -- the miserable, why-am-I-living-here heat -- rears its ugly head.