I'm Dreaming of a DRY Christmas!

Or at least a dry latter half of January, cuz I don't think we're gonna be getting a dry anything anytime soon while we're still in Seward. Remember that post from Sunday where I mentioned that it started raining? Well, guess what...it's still raining. Although having it turn into snow each night does provide some pleasant variety. But by noon it's raining again. In fact, I don't think we've had five minutes sans-precipitation all week.

See, THIS is why we don't like living in Seward. Sure, the mountains are pretty, and the ocean is cool with all of its assorted slippery things with fins and flippers, but enduring six months of nonstop rain, sleet, slush and ice is enough to drive anyone nuts. There are only so many ways to make putting together the same puzzle entertaining, and I don't think Sonja would enjoy playing the latest version I thought up: "Guess which piece is missing!"

We are definitely in the mood for some dry desert sun! Four weeks and counting until we pull into our new driveway in Rimrock, Arizona. We've already got a place all lined up. It's a three-bedroom "Mission 66" house we'll be renting from the park service (if you've got Google Earth on your computer you can see it for yourself by searching for this address "5505 beaver creek road, rimrock, az"). And it's already fully furnished, so we'll be able to get rid of some of our more undesirable belongings.

Regardless of the weather here in Seward, however, we've got plenty to keep ourselves busy over the next couple of weeks. Aside from packing there are four or five different holiday/going away parties we'll be attending. And then there is the Christmas Bird Count, which is always fun despite the weather. And to get in the mood for the count we've already been able to spot some rare birds in town. The feeder next door has had a flock of Gray-Crowned Rosy-Finches visiting all week, and there was a report of a single "Bering Sea" variety mingled in with the rest. So this afternoon I braved the cold, slush and rain to try to get a photo of it. The results were mixed, but I did manage to snap this blurry shot of what might be the individual of interest.

If any of you think you can make a positive ID on this Rosy-finch, just post a comment and let me know. In the meantime, I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow.