Gilbert, AZ In The Rearview Mirror

 Big Bubba has been living in Gilbert, AZ almost 8 years. He bought a 4-bdrm/2-1/2 bath home so we could live comfortably (separated if necessary) from his personal space. We've spent four months in this home for those eight years from mid-December to the end of March. Weather during these months is as near perfect as you could imagine... 70+ degree days and 60+ degree nights most of the time. During the time we spent there this Fall/Winter, it rained three times.
We've grown to like the neighborhood. It is clean, well lit at night, and almost all our immediate needs are within walking distance.

Big Bubba sold this home this week. Many factors impacted this decision. The biggest of course is family related. His aging parents will need him more and more, and we don't want to be exposed to 120-degree heat for half the year. Our son has also finally tired of the heat. There's a joke in Phoenix that is true:
"My wife arose before me and used up all the cold water."
Turn on the cold water tap and when the water exposed to the home's air conditioning is used up, the cold water feels like bath water. (Big Bubba turns off his water heater in late Spring. It's unnecessary)

It's a seller's market in Real Estate these days. In the time he has lived in this home, the value has more than doubled. It's a good time to pocket his equity.

But a BIGGEE that I've had him considering is the bare water line marking the shores of Lakes Meade and Powell. Water depth in both lakes is shockingly down. Although there is some attention now being paid to the problem, most residents of the Phoenix metro area... and for that matter in virtually all the big cities served by water from the Colorado River, are in denial, big time.
It's gonna become a crisis at some point now. (180,000 more water users illegally crossed our Southern border in May, and I'm reminded of an old truism: "That which cannot continue... won't".)

It's a good time for him to bug out.
We will miss our Winter walks in perfect weather. We will miss our wonderful Gilbert neighbors.
And we hope they come to their senses and bug out before water begins to be rationed in the West.
But we also know... addicts sometimes have to hit rock bottom before they realize behavior needs to change.