"it seems that all my bridges have been burnt / but you say that's exactly how this grace thing work

It's shading into late May without the ice having broken on the Santa Cruz River -- which is local idiom for reaching 100°F. Not that the Santa Cruz has had water through the year for a century, but that doesn't stop us from pretending. The point being that hovering in the mid-90s this long means we're having a relatively mild month -- and indeed, the smaller cacti are still blooming in yellows and reds and magentas, and the tall saguaro are still getting started on trumpeting white at the world.

This morning, though, the mountains were hazed, and distinctly fainter to the northeast -- bringing out the folds and ridges of the landscape. And in the air, the distinct tang of pine smoke.

It's started: wildfire season.

---L.