Full moon rise

Yesterday at 7:24pm was our monthly full moon. I planned my day accordingly.

High winds were forecasted for the afternoon but they never came. High winds remained in the Tucson area only, with high temperatures in the 90s. Since I have been troubled lately with allergies and have gone to bed earlier than usual to "sleep" off the itchy eyes, I wanted to walk the dogs during the day so that some of them got some exercise. I took Minnie and Zeke out for a mile loop around 1pm, but it was quite warm for both of them, and they attacked the water bowel when we got home.

I picked up four more foster kittens today at 3:30pm, got back home at 4pm, and two hours later I was back outside driving up Carr Canyon Road to view the moon rise. I took Sadie and Zeke, as Eric had taken Minnie out for a walk. I hiked the Clark Springs trail off Carr Canyon Road, a very nice extension trail with great views to the east and the San Pedro Valley. I could see and hear a USBP helicopter fly low over the area south of our little neighborhood. It made the trademark loop twice around. I hadn't seen or heard our USBP helicopters in a while, when this was something I heard every Saturday morning just before sunrise not too many years ago.

Zeke was his usual exuberant self. Sadie was more quiet, more slow. I hope it was just because Minnie wasn't with us. Minnie tends to purposefully excite Sadie and the other dogs, and will often provoke aggressive play that Sadie doesn't appreciate.

We made it just past the John Cooper intersection before turning around and seeing the red ball rise from under a brown-grey haze. The moon snuck up on me as it was still light out, but it was red and big, thanks to the smoky haze in the south and east.

Luckily we were near the end of our walk when I got a few decent photos of the moon rise. I used trees to stabilize the camera. The city lights were on, Fort Huachuca was lighted up, and the day was coming to an end. By the time we got into the van to drive home, it was quite dark, and I don't like being alone in the foothills when the sun's gone, as I always fear illegal activity with border crossers or worse.

Several wildfires have broken out in the San Diego area, threatening homes and forests. Nine fires popped up yesterday alone, threatening a nuclear power plant, Camp Pendleton, and homes. These are suspicious fires, much like the 19 small brush fires set around the Sierra Vista area since the start of the month. It's going to be a long and active fire season this year.