April 15, 2009

April 15, 2009

Today is Tax day. Normally this is a day of mourning, but with the market so bad, I am getting almost all my money back. Now if I just didn’t have to spend several days filling out the forms and using a computer to calculate what I owed.

I need a stress break after dealing with the IRS so Aimee and I take a hike up Bear Canyon on Tucson’s northeast side. It is one of our favorite hikes and with the recent rain I am thinking we should see flowing water. We are not disappointed. Not only is there a rush of water in the stream we cross several times but at Seven Falls where the hike ends we witness a real live cascade of water in the desert.

The moisture must be also be bringing out the desert fauna. I almost stepped on a gopher snake crossing my path. At quick glance he looks a little too much like a rattler for my nerves. I also spy a “horny toad” for the first time. Although he could pass for the spiky desert version of this amphibian, a horny toad is actually a Regal Horned Lizard, and boy does he blend in well with the desert.