Lots of reasons for snowbirds to stay, but we understand

From this valley they say you are going. And you are, by the thousands.

It’s that time of year when those who can, pack up the Buick and take flight, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and our Big, Bad Summer.

Up North and Away, the “seasonals” of Green Valley scatter. To Grand Rapids, Grand Forks and Grand Island. ... to Minnetonka, Mankato and Bemidji.

To Crystal Lake, Island Lake, Lake of the Cherokees and Lake of the Ozarks.

Like the Sami people — the Lapps — of northern Europe, those intrepid semi-nomadic reindeer-herders, our Green Valley neighbors make a break for it.

“Spread your tiny wings and fly away,” sings the incomparable Anne Murray in the song, Snowbird. “Take me with you when you go, to that land of gentle breezes where the peaceful waters flow,”

The snowbirds we love the most are retirees and others who can spend six or eight months with us before returning to their other homes. Some of them come in campers or RVs as big as a cruise ship, and they find spaces or places to rent or lease.

Others own homes here. They are “permanent” semi-permanent residents, I guess. And we couldn’t do without them.

This pleasant migration is similar to what Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster call transhumance, when sheep are moved from lowland pastures to mountain meadows.

“Baa-aah,” say some permanent Green Valley residents, resigned to a long slog of dog days, when Microwave Arizona melts the mind and monsoon thunder rattles the teeth.

But we also stay behind who believe a little madness ennobles the soul.

Muy loco, maybe, to dear ones departing for Duluth. But there are rewards in spending the summer in Green Valley, staying behind as it were to guard the fort.

Among them:

The adrenaline rush when the first drops of rain hiss through the atmosphere and actually begin to dot the sidewalks.

Watching palm fronds clatter in the wind.

The first gully-washer when the monsoon rains begin to pour in regularly.

The smell of the desert washed clean, then cooled by the wind.

The most stunning rainbows you’ll ever see, vaulting across the valley in radiant colors.

Of course there are other advantages to those who stay behind.

Such as more parking spaces and fewer SUVs, Cadillacs and Camrys to dodge on our streets and on shopping mall parking lots.

In truth, it’s a pretty easy adjustment as the community turns from a small town to a village.

More elbow room and better tee times, open lanes at the pool and an even slower pace of life, however, can’t make up for the absence of friends and neighbors.

So, good luck to all of you who’re heading North and East. Enjoy the summer wherever you are.

And we’ll see you in the fall.

Corky Simpson is a former Tucson Citizen columnist who writes a weekly column for the Green Valley News.