SUDDEN SHOWERS...Huh?

The sun came up again this morning, with another  hot, uncomfortable, day predicted.  I made the decision to have my first cup of the day with the windows open, BEFORE things heat up; Get some fresh air and enjoy the morning while I still can...
About one sip into my coffee I heard a sound...NO! It can't be...I was just outside and not a cloud in the sky but...IT'S RAINING... First a little, then a full bored GULLEYWASHER(as we call it here)...I had to run out and  close the windows on my pickup truck. In the middle of an ARIZONA summer, we can, usually, only dream of rain.

Believe it or not, at such a time as this, I can only look up and say....THANK YOU! At a time like this,  don't ask, just be thankful...Forget the weatherman and enjoy a brief blessing...

Scattered Gold...

As often as I have been out in Gold Basin, in northern Arizona, it never ceases to amaze me how TOTALLY uneven the gold is scattered all over the place.
Normally, if gold is being carried by a running steam, the heavier water during flood stages, will carry and deposit the larger pieces of gold higher up on the banks and the bigger stuff will drop before the smaller gold will settle farther downstream, but gold basin doesn't seem the fit the pattern at all.

I have found some rather good size pieces, a bunch of smaller pieces(in the same spot) then absolutely nothing...Yes! I was stumped...until I talked to a former geologist, who told me it all makes sense IF we think back about 10,000 years ago(which he says is a short time in geological terms). He tells me that back then the entire area was under water...not a running stream as we might think but an ocean bottom. Makes more sense knowing this... I think?
Often, I have come clear up out of the washes and found more, and bigger gold than down in the wash...

Better weather, BUT...

Although, the weather, here in Kingman, Arizona is better than(maybe Siberia?)some, it has still been too wet to do much> A little bit of rain(cold rain), a little bit of snow(not much here in town), but can't drywash because the sand is too wet and not enough water to have a running stream to use my sluice. If it were not for my GOLD BUDDY(recirculating and inside where it's warm-Yeh!), I wouldn't be doing much except looking out the window.
I realized many winters ago there is nothing worse than a avid GOLD PROSPECTOR being trapped inside all winter long. Can't sleep nights coz all you can think of is the big nuggets out there..just waiting. But you can't get to them. TERRIBLE!
Well, in any case, I run out on the weekends and bring back a few buckets of gravel and run them through my Recirculating sluice(Gold Buddy) and sometimes, find little pieces shining up at me. Ah Yes! Now, I am happy!

Arizona Updates...

The temperature is still running right around 100 degrees F, or a little above, but the nights are starting to cool a bit. It seems the only humidity is IF we turn the sprinklers on...It is DRY! Thank Goodness, for small favors. I know other parts of the country are not so fortunate(too much humidity). No matter what, I guess there is always a silver lining...
Winters , here in Kingman, are not all too bad. We don't get much snow at all, and if we go about 60 miles to the West(down on the Colorado River at a lower altitude)it is more like Springtime, most of the Winter. That's when OUR fun begins...
The temperatures are easy, and we can go dig dirt, pick up rocks, and HOPEFULLY, find some gold. Around here though, most of our CRITTERS(snakes, and everything else on the ground) don't really seem to sleep, as they do elsewhere. I have seen Rattlesnakes on the road on Christmas day. Maybe, he was out shopping? Ya think?
Out here, when everyone one else is shoveling snow, we are digging dirt...
Another couple of months from now, we come alive, but then...so do the Tourists. Soemtimes they are worse than the snakes. At least, we can step OVER the snakes...