July 1, 2011



Brush Fire Sun -- but isn't it beautiful anyway?  Just like a picture of heaven.





 

I am so excited!  I have 7 followers of this blog!  WooHoo!  And I'm really not being sarcastic, either.  I'm happy that my old friend, Diane, decided to join us.  Hi Diane.

It has been hot, hot, hot here.  Hot and DRY!



Nearly every day it rains about 12 rain drops.  Just enough to tease... never enough to quench.  Just enough to get your car dirty... never enough to make it worth it.

Tonight, though, at 10:00 Les and I sat out on the porch as we often do.  We had a martini and discussed events.  And the cool evening breeze in my face was more intoxicating than my beverage.  There is a storm right at this moment just south of town in the Raton Pass.  It's been storming for the last 3 hours.  I've been watching the radar on Weather Underground and it's showing lots of reds and yellows -- but it is literally just out of reach.  We had our typical 12 rain drops.  We see the lightning, but we're like the dog on a chain in the yard.  It's always just out of reach.

The farmers and ranchers in the eastern part of the state have been approved to receive disaster funding due to the drought.  There was decent snow pack, but on the plains the ranchers rely on rain to grow the grass to feed their herds.  And there has been no measurable rain in a few months.

 And then there are the fires.  I thought I was getting away from wild fires, but I've come to learn that the fire danger in this drought is just as bad -- if not worse -- than Southern California.  Here, sometimes the fires jump from tree-top to tree-top.  That's a tough one for the fire fighters.  And they just don't have the resources that California has.  A brush fire in California would prompt C-130's and helicopters.  Here they're lucky to get a bulldozer and a shovel.  (A slight exaggeration... maybe.)



The clouds tonight at the edge of the storm.



Anyway... there has been much I've wanted to blog about.  Les has a new project, but that blog will have to wait for another day.  (Until I have more pictures!) 



More clouds at the north edge of the storm.