The Cool Life in Arizona

Rainy Blips: People say Santa Barbara doesn’t really have seasons — just a fairly even climate marked by few annual cool, rainy blips. Even our elections are bland.

I’m just back from Arizona, where politics and the weather are as dramatic as a Wagnerian opera, complete with the Ride of the Valkyries and bloodshed.

If Arizonans aren’t impeaching a governor or recalling a corrupt politician, they’re rightfully gushing to Californians how delightful their balmy summer evenings are — after the mercury slides from 115.