Today was finally a day where the temperature did not break 100! It felt completely bearable and will hopefully be the start of a cooling trend. August 2011 has been the hottest August on record for the Greater Phoenix area. It is hard to believe that it is September already. We see the school buses running around town during our morning walks. The town traffic is busier as people are arriving from wherever they go to escape the dog days of summer. It’s almost like a rite of passage. I feel as though we have been christened by hot weather, passing the test for moving to the real wild west.

Heat notwithstanding, we roasted a turkey tenderloin tonight. It was perfect timing as my sisters sent a retirement basket that had a bottle of riesling which happened to have quails on the label. It was not a coincidence! And yes, the quails have been busy at it, sharing the open space with the cottontail bunnies and all the other creatures that call this neighborhood home.

Hydrating is becoming a habit – we’re less likely to forget our bottled water as we head on out for the elusive house hunting task. Generically it could be a fun experience. But there are so many really borderline properties out there, that it is really hard to visualize some of the spaces as “the future home”. All those stories about people who have pulled out all the appliances and fixtures are true. And then there are the situations where the electricity and water have been shut off. This is not a good thing in the desert with the heat – boards separate, things fester, creatures find a new home. Water heaters flood out the whole floor. Flippers buy these places o the cheap, make a few cosmetic changes and put the home back on the market at exorbitant prices. And of course that makes them unaffordable for the asking, so a lot of the inventory just sits there. It’s been a lot of work, which will hopefully pay off in the long run. Only time will tell!