The gentle Christmas rains of Phoenix, Arizona

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It's December 4th and the Phoenix area is getting a gentle rain. I call them Christmas rains. Every year at this time we get them, not much, but they are welcomed by gardeners. Christmas rains will fall, usually at night and early morning, through January.

I know that this will spoil the golf dates of our winter visitors, but it's nothing like the violent thunderstorms that Phoenix gets in the summer. Then it comes roaring in with lightning, thunder, and flash floods. And while rain is welcome in the garden, I know that the summer thunderstorms are terrible,  and cause damage. But the Christmas rains are different.

I am listening to the gentle sound on the roof of my house right now, and it's the sound that I woke up to a couple of hours ago. I am looking at The Tropical Paradise through my bedroom window and I know that this the best thing in the world for the plants. I am also happy that I have artificial turf, so that the yard doesn't turn to mud, and doesn't ever need mowing. My outdoor furniture is the simple kind that doesn't mind getting caught in the rain, and dries out quickly.

This is a good rain, which returns this time every year, like an old friend.

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