Fires



Memorial Weekend Fire

It's been a busy few weeks. 
I thought that moving away from Southern California would also mean the end of watching wildfires destroy everything in their paths.  But a few weeks ago the fires started... and they haven't stopped yet. 

It's been a very, very dry year so far.  While the higher mountains have had a blessed amount of snowfall, we "low-landers" (our land is at nearly 7,000 feet in elevation) have been feeling the pinch of a slight winter and an extremely dry spring.

And then there's the wind. 

We have been plagued with hot, dry winds for the last 3 weeks!  So of course, that means fire.   

During the Memorial Day weekend, lightning started a fire in Northern New Mexico.  After it ate about 100 acres there it moved north into Colorado, just east of Trinidad.  For the next several days it burned thousands of acres.

Then last Sunday, another fire broke out near the railroad tracks in Raton -- the next town south of Trinidad.  Raton is in Northern New Mexico and is about 25 miles south of Trinidad.   The fire quickly grew and forced the closure of Highway 25 -- a main north-south highway -- between Raton NM and Trinidad, CO. 



Smoke from the Track Fire as seen from our back yard.



Track Fire that started 6/12/11



The highway has been closed since Sunday morning -- it's now Wednesday night.  The nearest detour takes you literally 100 miles out of your way.  This has been a nightmare for truckers and vacationers.  The fire is still burning on both sides of the highway in the Raton Pass.  Many parts of Raton have been under an evacuation order, and the fire is far from containment.

The last count had it burning over 25,000 acres of forest.  We smell smoke constantly.  The last I heard it was 0% contained.  I'd hate to see it come toward Trinidad.  But the winds are so erratic -- who knows? 

Turkeys

 If you look very closely at these pictures, you will see a wild turkey right about in the middle of them.  We've been hearing turkeys quite a lot up on our mountain top lately.  I've seen their evidence that they leave behind and I hear them gobbling to each other.  We saw one on the road the other day.

But Tuesday as we were getting ready to go on our hike I saw something moving in the trees.  Sure enough, there were 6 or 7 wild turkeys walking down one of our meditation trails.  I guess turkeys need to meditate sometimes, too.

Soon, Mindy saw them too.  She was on her way over to politely introduce herself, but they rudely flew away.  I was amazed at how huge they are!

Also, I knew that wild turkeys roost in the trees so I know that they can fly... sort of.  But as they decided to turn their big feathered backs on poor, sweet, little Mindy, they took flight.  I mean they really flew.  It wasn't anything like a regular bird, but for their massive size I never thought they could gain the altitude or distance those fowl flew.  Their wingspan was enormous.

So, now we know.  Turkeys like to meditate.  Aren't much for socializing with our sweet little pooch.  And in a pinch -- can fly like a bird.

Who knew?