Huge Prairie Fire #2

The wind today was incredible. We couldn't even walk very far this morning and by 10AM the sky was filled with dust. It actually felt ominous. By noon, emergency sirens were going off. When I got to work at 2PM, the South highway out of town was closed and within 2 more hours so was the U.S. highway East of town. Visibility was already almost zero because of the dust and resulted in several serious accidents, then the smoke started. I heard of several houses, a post office, lots of barns and storage sheds that burned, and many of the ranchers to the East and South of town lost a lot of cattle and horses. I've never really been in the general public when these things happened before and it's different.

More of Today

Kind of Warm Today

The wind wasn't as impressive today as it was yesterday (WIND), but still had a significant punch. I can hear ducks on the pond and am sure that the heron is there, but hate to bother them even to make myself appear credible. I do have proof that the algae is starting to back off. Oh yes, the gophers seem to have moved (or something). Ron brought a bottle of peppermint oil to me. My sister saw a man on tv who was relating sort of an alternative pesticide regimen and said that gophers and other rodents are allergic to peppermint oil and to put pure peppermint oil (not extract) on a cotton ball and put it in their newest open hole (I think that covering the hole would also be a good idea) and they will move away. He said this also works on mice in houses and anywhere else that rodents become a problem. I haven't actually tried it yet because they had moved before he got here.

Weather Change

It is overcast and trying to rain right now, but the air is so dry, and the surface winds are so intense (33 mph sustained with gusts of 50-60) , that nothing is hitting the ground. I was just sitting outside with Kilo, and the trees are almost laying down, but the clouds are barely moving.

My sister told me that Captain Bird (the bittern) lands on the boat about 6:15 each afternoon. This could be his lucky day (blog photo).

Yesterday was Nice

Ron came by and he and Kilo played frisbee until he had to leave. She regards him as her friend, and wants him to only play with her while he is here. When we sit in the house she will bring frisbees to him and bark constantly until we go outside. I'm glad she has long-lasting and very good relationships with her people.

Big Wind Day

Yesterday was beautiful and very warm but the wind woke me this morning. It is almost too intense to walk through and not very pleasant in general - but still warm.

It's Spring

What was I thinking? Spring comes in it's own time, not according to our calendar. A beautiful day. Light breeze, 80 degrees, and the birds have come to life.

Some Winter

Cool morning with interesting, Fall-like spells. I didn't get up until 9:30 and the birds were either gone for the day, or just gone. Our walk was invigorating to the point of being pleasant. Even at 12 going on 13, Kilo is a bundle of energy on days like this. My friend never gets any exercise because he is stuck with a lazy dog that just wants to stay in the house and watch television all day. I hate it when that happens and have begged him to get a companion with some energy.

Perfect Day (Weather-wise)

Last night I was sitting in the backyard with Kilo and watched an owl make several passes over the pond. It must have been an owl. It was flying in the dark, it was big, it had raptor-type wings (I could see the silhouette against the lights in the Western sky), and each time it flew back to tree that is surrounded by a lot of owl activity evidence. This morning when we went walking, a great blue heron (and it is huge) and two ducks took off. I can't prove any of this, but it happened, and tomorrow I am planning to get up early and take pictures of them (unless they moved today - stranger things have happened).

Wednesday

83 degrees and absolutely beautiful. The elm trees are starting to bloom and the leaves came out today on some of the honeysuckle vines. I'm sort of impressed that the thyme (maybe), curly parsley, and lavender plants have kept growing through the winter. The Albuquerque news just said that as of midnight last night, this is the driest Winter since 1903-04, and it may even be drier than that Winter once all of the data is tabulated. That's actually pretty exciting - we may have just witnessed the driest 3 months in the recorded history of a large city. It has been really dry here also, but that rain the other night may have just snatched a record right out of our hands. El Nino - La Nina. But there is always next year.

Spring?

After 6 months of fall, we seem to have gone right into Spring. It has been in the upper 80's today, only windy in the early morning, and completely beautiful. I am almost adapted to my new job and should be on pond detail any day now. Captain Bird (or, the bittern on the boat) has been here for several days and there are ducks on the water in the early mornings.

These Two Things are Not the Same - But Similar

Friday

Overcast and humid for most of yesterday. I was about 50 miles South of here yesterday and it almost rained. I love the smell of days like these. The gophers seem to have moved, maybe. I will never again think they are dead - which seems to make them angry. Spring is getting closer and I can hardly wait.

A Catastrophic Life Event

And I have gone through it relatively unscathed (except for the major injuries to my mind and body). Nothing the Dixie Chicks and Joan Osborne can't fix. I wonder why I stopped listening to them. I also wonder why do people collect junked cars? I sometimes ask my brother and brother-in-law but they don't seem to think it's a real question - they just look at me like, why would you not.

It was in the 30's and 40's for the past 4 days, and today it is almost 80. Even though this weather pattern has been present for my whole life, it still freaks me out. There were 4 ducks on the pond every morning for the past several days but they are too fast for me to photograph and Buddy has been here for a week (I'm dog-sitting him right now) so sneaking up on anything would be out of the question.

"Too Much Ain't Enough"

A friend called the other night and said, "enough with the clouds already". Okay then. Just to please you and because there weren't any clouds yesterday or today. It's significantly colder today, but a few sprigs of green are already starting to break through. The chives are starting, the Italian parsley never really left, but is greener now, and some kind of local flower that my mom semi-domesticated has green leaves at its base. I haven't seen a fish in months and the pond is congested with a dark soupy algae. My last attack on gopherville might have taken, but they are tricky devils. The last time must have just made them sick for a few days, then they got mad.

Camron was wandering around the pond by himself and asked me to play frisbee. A video would have been so great - he learned to throw and catch in one setting. I showed him how to hold the frisbee and explained how to snap the wrist for spin. He got both instantly, then he caught one for the first time. After a few minutes we had a fairly nice game (as opposed to neither of us ever catching a single toss).