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How 'bout that rain?

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You know you live in Arizona when a rainstorm is the source of so much news and conversation.

To be fair, last week’s downpour was far more than the drizzle Valley communities are typically used to and even topped what we have come to expect out of decent monsoon storms.

The rain came so fast and furious that many roads had to be closed Tuesday evening due to dangerous conditions in flooded wash areas. On top of all of that water, the streets became littered with mud, rocks and limbs ripped from desert shrubs.

If you haven’t had an opportunity to swing by Golden Eagle Park lately, that has certainly become an unusual site. When I first pulled into the parking lot and took a cursory glance around, I wasn’t sure what all of the fuss was about. When I made my way around to the local softball fields, though, I understood why the town is now planning to keep the fields closed for a few weeks while staff figures out how to clean up the mess.

On top of piles of litter from overturned garbage cans and various bits of debris, two of the fields are now completely caked in mud.

I was surprised to learn from reporter Bob Burns that the fields were actually designed to capture rain runoff like that but, up until now, they had never had the opportunity to actually fulfill that purpose.

We’ve got some photos of the damage in this very issue of the paper, if you don’t have time to go view the fields for yourself.

And speaking of clean-up, I’ve got to give a hand to members of town staff who got out and took care of our streets in record time. By the time I hit the road to work Wednesday morning, all of the washes in my path had already been cleared of obstruction. I’m sure they spent the next couple of days making their way around the rest of town, but it’s impressive how quickly they took care of the community’s main thoroughfares to make sure everyone could travel to school and work safely.

Similarly, The Times would like to give a big “thank you” to our delivery staff. Due to unsafe road conditions, they were instructed to stay off of the roads until the sun came up Wednesday morning but, as soon as the coast was clear, they were out on their usual routes to make sure everyone got their copy of the paper as soon as possible.

Sure, we got a lot of phone calls from concerned readers wondering about the delay, but we take it as a compliment that so many of you were so eager to read the news. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

And, of course, I can’t talk about last week’s storm without at least mentioning the temporary and very photogenic residents it brought to town, a flock of White Pelicans. We received plenty of phone call and emails about the flock’s arrival in Fountain Park, and several residents even took advantage of the opportunity to snap a few photos. You can find some of those photos attached to our news coverage of the event, as well as on the Spouts page of this week’s issue.