Snoopy and I had a lovely walk this morning.  Temps have really settled down – at 6 am it was 29C and 29% humidity – about like it was in May.

We went by one of my favourite frankincense trees.  I love the majestic shape of it – it is really taller than most of the wild ones in the Salalah area where they are native – must be the extra moisture it gets in this yard. It seems that the bark is peeling more as the season progresses – had to take a few photos of it.Along the way, we found a place where the people have been harvesting and drying dates.  Those bushy things on the side are the stocks the dates grow on.  As they ripen, the dates turn darker brown, and get very soft and sweet. There are two types – some that turn yellow as they begin to ripen, and some that turn red.  Looks like these are the yellow kind – the red are supposed to be the best.

I’ve been by this house many times – the carvings on the front wall intrigue me.  The smaller one is very primitive – good for applique.Finally, almost home and we walked by these thorn trees.  In spite of the heat of summer, there are new leaves and flowers on them. They are a relative of a valuable shade tree locally called “ghaf”.  The Prosopis juliflora or Thorn tree, was originally introduced from Central America because it grows so much faster than native varieties – now they are wishing they hadn’t.   I’ve seen it called the “Tyrannosaurus Rex” of ornamental shrubs. It does have a value as barbeque fuel as it is a relative of  mesquite.  When we got home, David and I had breakfast out on the balcony – temp still only about 32C. It will be a lot warmer when the sun hits it later – the pavement, and especially the shiny tile on my front step will be too hot to go out barefoot – something I often forget and find myself doing a dance to get back inside.

Lovely being home again.