Dry, Hot Summer

July 23, 2023

Howdy folks,

Well, the heat shows no sign of abating.  Each week when you look at the forecast about a week or two out, it always seems to be pointing to a cool down, but, thus far, it has yet to appear.  As you check the near-term forecast every day, the 90s just seem to stretch out all the way to the horizon.  We're certainly not anywhere near as bad as some parts of the country.  We don't have the humidity of the eastern two-thirds of the country and we don't have the extra sizzle that comes with much of the rest of the Southwest, but it has been above 90 all but two days this week.  We even hit 100 on Tuesday, but it dove back down 35 degrees by dawn the next morning to keep it rather comfortable.  It's funny, you just bake from late morning on, but sleeping with all the windows open, you find yourself diving under a blanket or sheet by about four or five in the morning.  Even the animals start laying all over each other like a covey of quail trying to make it through a winter night.  We're still getting the occasional heavy thunderstorm, but they are occurring less and less often and we seem to be heading straight towards a dry late summer.  The heat has brought the snakes out, that's for sure!  I haven't seen tons of them, but plenty of little garter snakes and even smaller ring snakes...plus the occasional bull snake.  When the manager for the hydroseeding crew was out here just the other day programming all the different irrigation zones and cycles, he said a huge 5-6' snake slithered across his feet as he was crouching in front of the controller!  From the description he gave me, it could only have been a bull snake.  We like them because they tend to keep the rattlesnakes at bay, if there's enough of them.  I still haven't seen any rattlers yet, but I have heard the telltale sign a couple of times this week at night when they like to hunt when I was letting the dogs out before bed.  I tend to not take a flashlight out with me and keep them close to the house, but, inevitably, you suddenly hear a loud buzzing and we all just freeze.  Luckily, the girls are smart enough to handle this and seem to instinctively know to just stop, look and listen.  Then, once I locate it, we all just back away really slowly and head back into the house.  If it were during the day, I'd grab the snake stick and transport it off to a nearby corner of the ranch where it won't bother anything.  But, closer to midnight in the pitch black, I tend to round the dogs up and just give the poor guy a pass.  Most people out here just kill them on the spot, like most other places in the country, but I tend to never hurt anything that is not actively hurting any part of our crew.

And speaking of the heat and things that like to bite, Erin got her first box of green chiles at the supermarket this weekend.  She saw last week that the grocery stores were starting to set up the huge roasters out in front where they'll roast whole 25# boxes of chiles for you.  Then, sure enough, this time there were two whole pallets of cases inside of the store.  Last year Erin preserved four cases of chiles and she wanted to hit the ground running this year since she is never confident that the garden is going to faithfully produce a big yield for us.  As the season changes, the flavor and heat of the chiles does, too, and it's nice to see how much they change from July to September.  Usually, we'd get a case of mediums to work with(after doing milds the first year we were here).  And, now, after the guy that was stocking the produce section gave us each a fresh chile to try, we decided to go whole hog and go for a case of hots!  We have noticed that our comfort level with the heat of the food dishes out here has grown with each month and season that passes.  Now, in our third summer out here, we feel like true locals to be standing in the grocery store and chomping down on raw hot green chiles...all before we had even eaten breakfast!  So, on other fronts, we probably won't be in the boss's old house for another few weeks yet, but are hoping for a target date of Labor Day hopefully.  Erin's Dad and his partner are coming out shortly thereafter, with Erin's Mom promising a trip of her own as soon as we're set up in the new house.  But, as I've mentioned before, we still haven't gotten much work done on our future transition and move, but there is still a lot of plaster and stucco work to be done, so why clean it ten times before cleaning it ten more times, right?  In any event, like true procrastinators, we will rise to the occasion at the last minute when there is absolutely no more possible time to waste and we'll get it all done in a tidal wave of effort just like all the times before!

So, now, here is another batch of pictures for everyone to enjoy.  First up, three different artistic creations of mine: the lot map for the entire ranch, playfully rendered; as are, too, an old pair of my favorite shoes; and, lastly, a shot of the old Tom that is keeping all the female cats pregnant out here, caught in his lair in the hay barn.  Then, two more shots of the same tomcat, BOC(Big Orange Cat): first, caught with a portal opening up to another dimension in his eyes, just like it was straight out of the Secret of Nimh; and, a slightly different shot where I didn't use the flash.  Next, a shot of Ela and a shot of Willow, both patiently waiting for evening to come and for us to open the house back up again!  Then, four shots of the case of chiles that we got and all the jars of preserves that Erin made out of them...unlike everyone else out here who apparently freeze everything, Erin likes to can so that electricity is never necessary to keep them until we get around to using them all.  Next, three shots from right near the Hot Springs in Montezuma where an old furnace and an old water tank show evidence of all the hustle and bustle that this tiny little village had when it was associated with a Harvey House from the railroad in the late 1800s.  And, finally, two shots of the mesa that is always looming about 1500' over our heads: first from the ranch road; then from our future front porch.

Be good!