If you're paying attention to our desert, then you know that monsoon season is almost upon us. The cicadas are providing that deafening hum and the saguaro fruits are starting to ripen.

This is my favorite time of the year. First, we in perpetual drought now, so any drop of rain is to be celebrated. Just look at your recent Facebook feed—our recent few drops of rains made people crazy.

So when it rains during monsoon, sometimes we go outside and dance in it while filling up buckets to feed our plants. And we post where the rain is falling, because sometimes the eastside gets a deluge, while my Menlo Park neighborhood gets a drop or two. We compare notes. We get excited. And if we're practiced, we stay out of washes and take it easy on the road.

This weekend is the Raices Taller 222 Gallery and Workshop annual monsoon exhibit and next Tuesday El Dia de San Juan Fiesta. Raices' Chubasco! celebrates monsoon rains and all things water. There's an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at 218 E. 6th St., and it continues through July 26.

El Dia de San Juan Fiesta is from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, at the Mercado San Agustin, 100 S. Avenida del Convento, south of Congress and west of I-10. The celebration is John the Baptist's birthday and celebrates the rains returning life back to the desert. There are live bands and groups performing on stage, folkloric dancers, mariachis, and much more. Good food and community.

Show up. Celebrate. Pray for rain. And when you sweat this monsoon and your hair goes crazy think sultry. Thank the heavens for the cloud coverage. Be thankful and carry on. October will be here soon and then you can complain about how cold it is, while of us rejoice on Facebook how happy we are that we can keep doors and windows open.