After spending a week in the Disney World Resorts near Orlando in early December, my wife asked me if I was going to buy something in the park to take home.  I'm not too big on buying stuff at theme parks, but towards the end of our stay I saw the Mickey Rain Gauge.  I had always wanted a rain gauge to see how much rain actually falls at our home in Monterey near Laguna Seca.  After sitting on his butt for the past 6 weeks Mickey finally got to show me his stuff the past two days.  Thursday night Mickey gathered about 1/4" of rain for the day.  Not a huge amount by most rainfall standards.  But on Friday night Mickey gathered 1.25" inches of rain.  He is certainly proving he has the ability to learn and improve his catchment techniques 8^).  Since my rain catchment system is 500 square feet of roof space my rainwater harvesting tanks have captured approximately 420 gallons of water in the past two days.  And the good news is Mickey is back at work today collecting more!  Nice job Mickey!

The first week of January 2012 I spent with my family in Scottsdale, AZ.  Several days we journeyed out into the desert for a nice hike.  This time of year the desert was very green and beautiful.  Our first hike was at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.  We hiked the 5 mile Gateway Trail up and around a small mountain.  One of the interesting things I found out that day was regarding a 20,000 gallon underground rainwater harvesting system.  The system was designed as part of the Leed Platinum visitor center at the trail head.  A volunteer was on hand to discuss the trails and the facility.  The roof was structured like butterfly wings.  All the water collected on the roof moved to the center line and funneled down a steel truss to the rain chain.  The rain chain was centered over a large raised bed of medium sized rock that covered the entrance to the underground cistern.  The rock bed acts like a quieting device eliminating the problem of erosion.  You never know where you might find a rainwater system!  For more information on the McDowell Sonoran Preserve click on the following link www.mcdowellsonoran.org and make sure you go for a hike the next time your in the Scottsdale area.

Here is another sign I saw on a recent trip to Scottsdale, Arizona.  How can a professional sign company do this?  Perhaps it is a joke!  It didn't appear altered in any way as far as I could tell.  Since it isn't raining and business is slow I'm looking for things to do.  If you see signs that are misspelled send them to me with some context and I will post them on this blog.