Rain, Pumpkins and Lovecats...

That title certainly doesn't say Summer! I can't wait until it's officially over! That doesn't mean the Autumn Equinox on September 22nd. Oh sure, that's when the calendar says Fall, but here in hell, it's still Summer. No, Autumn around here starts around the second week of October if we're lucky.

Some commutes were met with problems...

BUT...the rain the Phoenix area has been hit with earlier this week has been awesome and has really helped ease the pain of Summer.  Apparently Monday was declared the wettest day. I swear I've seen days that were even more drenched, but perhaps the overnight rain was the culprit.

I love seeing how weirded out all the transplants that moved here from other places (midwest/back east, etc) are by all this rain. It does happen, people.  Problem is, there really isn't anywhere for the rain to go in many places, so there's a lot of flooding. Wickenburg hasn't really had flooding, however. There have been some areas by washes that had some trouble, but for the most part, we've been fine. The Hassayampa River is right behind us and it flows downward towards the valley. Therefore, gravity took care of it for the most part.

But this guy in Chandler had no issues with the flooding...

But yes, some parts of the valley, such as Mesa, have had a lot of flooding and people finding that they have to scramble to save some of their belongings. I've also never heard of schools being closed due to all this rain, but it did happen in some places. My kids were upset that it didn't happen for them.  What's strange is one story said: "Most at risk are the slightly higher elevations, including Wickenburg and areas in and around the Superstition Mountains..." but most of the problems we saw had been down in the valley (Phoenix area and surrounding areas).

As for art this week, I managed to get Pumpkins #2-#6 (first one already went to Georgia) to cooperate for a group photo. Sadly, they've become attached to each other. However, like a litter of puppies, they'll soon be going their separate ways.

Another fun project that was completed this week was a tribute for an LDS missionary who is just days away from returning. The first image is the standard circle design. The second are some corners added that his mother (awesome return customer! Hi Cheryl! Hi Tonya! )requested to give it a square shape.   If you happen to know the young man the artwork is for, keep it quiet! It's a surprise for him when he arrives home.

Meanwhile, I really really really want to do a large Halloween piece with black cats with the lyrics to the song Lovecats by the Cure. I'm not much of a cat person in general, but I certainly can be if we throw Halloween and The Cure into the mix.

Sure, I have one custom piece that is still in progress along with a large pumpkin for a local customer that I really want to have done by tomorrow, but the Halloween bug has hit me (that's no surprise. Halloween is awesome!) and I've been wanting to do this Lovecats piece for awhile. 

Until then, I'm glad the pumpkins are going strong to keep the Halloween designs coming!