Free At Last

July 2, 2023

Hello again,

So, things are starting to get back to normal after Rui's passing last week.  The other two dogs don't seem to be too terribly distraught about it, but instead also seemed to have seen it coming and must have said their goodbyes in their own ways.  For the first few days afterwards, whenever I'd let them out, Ela would wander up to the gravesite just to sniff around and check on things.  But, all in all, we were all just happy to make it to the end of the week and be able to relax a little bit.  Monday morning began with a burial and the week just took off from there, with me running around the ranch watering, raking, digging, checking and, more than anything, sweating.  The heat really kicked in this week.  We had a stretch over the last ten days of June where it hit the low 90s eight of those days.  That was the first real heatwave of the year and it subsided for three days, only to come back and be in the low 90s again for the first half of this week. We always get some interesting temperature swings this time of year and the biggest one this week was thirty-four degrees, starting at 58 at 5:30 in the morning and hitting 92 about ten hours later.  We still haven't seen much in the way of rain.  We've gotten two or three showers in the last few weeks, but nothing that would have made you have to change your clothes or anything.  Usually, til you notice that it has begun to rain, it's all over.  The overflow pond that forms from runoff from the roof of the boss's new house was filled up to the brim by the end of May and it attracted a whole bunch of bullfrogs from down at the big pond on the property.  Sure enough, it was soon flooded with tadpoles and dragonflies and all kinds of life, but by the end of this week it was just down to huge, crusty, cracked pieces of dirt that didn't show any evidence of recent moisture.  I can never tell if the frogs stay until the bitter end and die when the water runs out or if they finally take off at some point, once the obvious becomes inevitable.  We're still holding on until the bitter end, too, waiting to move over to the boss's old house.  We were encouraged to hurry up and do it while she was away on vacation, although the windows were being replaced and they didn't finish until a few days before she got back.  Then, Rui got sick and we were fussing over him for a week or so.  Now, we've decided to move everything over in one weekend from next-door, short and sweet, but have hit another wall as there is plaster work that still needs to be done and won't be done until August...our cats are all but bursting out of our little adobe casita and one has already moved permanently to the barn!

We keep running into the hot springs in Montezuma every weekend and have found it absolutely essential, no matter what else the week throws at us, to keep this ritual going.  We started going on Sunday mornings, leaving the ranch at 8 or so, but found the springs fairly busy every time, with the early-morning-risers slowly thinning out before the lunch crowd worked its way in.  This Sunday found only three other cars there when we arrived and we literally had the Lobster Pots all to ourselves for over an hour.  It was Las Fiestas in Las Vegas over the weekend and the parade started at just about the time that we got there, so that probably explains the lack of people there.  Otherwise, we've now shifted to typically going on Saturdays, leaving home by 9, and are regularly finding the hot springs a ghost town, with us being able to pick whichever particular pools that we want to be in that day.  Then, we roll back into town and do whatever shopping needs to be done before usually ending up at the Skillet for lunch.  Then, back out of town to the tranquility of the ranch.  The heat is something in the summer, but the cool starts to the morning allow us to handle it without too much of a problem.  You don't have to drive far to be feeling near-100 degree heat recently, but our elevation seems to moderate that quite a bit for us.  I saw a baby bull snake this week while mowing, but otherwise haven't seen any other snakes around...certainly not any rattlesnakes.  I haven't been seeing very many little lizards, either, but figure that our small army of cats is having a huge effect on their population.  So, I've been plopping down on what will be our new front porch quite often recently, trying out the resident rocking chair.  It's hot, but bearable.  We're going to hold off on the move for a few more weeks and try to find some way to beat the heat.  You know, we've always wanted to get a ping pong table, maybe it's time to finally start working on our outdoor stadium!

So, now it's time for a few more pictures again this week.  First up, three shots of the baby bull snake that I saw: one, an artistic rendition; the other two actual shots while he was scurrying away.  Then, three shots of a huge moth that I saw one evening while going over to check on Rui's grave...it had to have been four inches long and six inches wide!  Next, three shots of Milagros and Negrita screwing around while I filled up the water tanks, trying to take advantage of the free fountain.  Then, Charley, from our middle litter of kittens, has finally decided to run away to the barn and has not come back down to the house in about a week now...we're pretty sure that she's pregnant!  Next, a brief rainbow that set in over our casita one evening when it was rather cloudy.  Then, two more shots of Erin hanging out at the spot that I made for her as the sun sets over another day.  Next, four shots from Montezuma on one of our trips in to the hot springs: first, two shots of the beautiful church that we drive by right before getting to the springs; then, Erin packing up and gathering everything before leaving; and, finally, some of the overflow from the pools spilling its way down the hill and into the river.  Lastly, four shots from around the ranch this week: first, two shots of the summer blooms; then, taking a break while still out mowing right before dark one night; and, finally, some of the one hundred ten-foot-long pieces of metal edging that I've been putting in all around the boss's house...I've got about half of them done!

Take care.