Between the raindrops.

I live near a canyon, so 15mph morning winds are pretty common.  This morning when my alarm went off at 5:30am, however, the winds seemed to be stronger than usual, so much so that I couldn't tell whether it was pouring down rain from the thunderstorms that have been predicted for today, or it was just rustling leaves.

Well, I was too tired/lazy to figure it out.  Sometimes early mornings don't happen for me.  Two hours later I was awakened by the vocal talents of the toddler, who was launching his toys out of his crib.

 Fortunately I was able to sneak out a little bit later for an easy 4.6 mile run at a good clip.  A light drizzle started about halfway through.  I've noticed that runs after breakfast or later in the day tend to feel easier for me than runs first thing in the morning.  I'm attributing that to being awake and having eaten, but it suggests that I might need to make sure I get a good breakfast in on race day.

This week has been hot and sunny, and the garden is really starting to take off.  Most of my ornamental plants are xeric, because my yard is so bright and sunny and hot that even lavender, which grows everywhere, wilts and dies without supplementary water.  With mulch, I need to water only every other today when it's above 95.  I'm hoping once these beauties are established they'll need even less care; spending water on a landscape still strikes me as wasteful.

Munro Globemallow

Veggie garden is coming along, too:

Anaheim pepper.  You can see the drip irrigation system in the back.

Happy Friday!