The Monsoons

July 3, 2022

Hello again,

Another week on the ranch has passed us by, this time including the Fourth of July and Las Fiestas that occur every year in Las Vegas. The week began wet after almost ten days straight of some kind of rainfall, dried out a bit through mid-week, then let loose again on Friday, dumping almost two inches of rain on the ranch in less than an hour. This was what the boss came home to after being away from the ranch for a few weeks. Upon leaving it was an absolute dust bowl out here, complete with very hot temperatures, and then the arrival happened about an hour or two after all that rain was dumped on us. In that time, the ranch had transformed itself into a green oasis in the desert, almost looking like it needed to be mowed. Nothing is growing very tall, but it is green everywhere and the horses are not coming in to the daily feedings, as they are too busy munching on the 160 acres of fresh, green grass. One downside of these types of downpours is that we usually find some kind of casualties from them and this time was no different. I found a big bull snake dead in a little section of erosion-control netting that is along the driveway and it appeared to have strangled itself in the netting when it was super wet and slippery. I always find them too late to save and I'm thinking in this particular instance that I was a day late in seeing it to be of any assistance. The same thing happened last summer and I found a really big bull snake in the exact same spot and situation. It's terrible to lose such helpful animals like that, but it's heartening to know that there's enough of them to sustain a population through these kinds of mishaps. These are the snakes that seem to chase away rattlesnakes, so they are longstanding VIP members of the ranch! The week ended with Fourth of July celebrations in Las Vegas that are known here as Las Fiestas. They started Friday night and went all the way through Monday, on the Fourth itself. Basically, the whole town shows up some time over the weekend and sets up in the main plaza, complete with folding chairs, and everyone just hangs out and catches up with friends and neighbors while bands play on the stage the entire time and you have your choice of twenty or more food trucks to fill your belly. Even on the Fourth when we went in, most of the downtown stores were open and you could just walk around, window shop and soak this Old West town in. We spent a few hours milling about the plaza, wolfing down some frito pies(beans, cheese & veggies piled onto Fritos), tamales with pozole(dried corn mixed with meat), green chile cheeseburgers and some elote(corn on the cob) on a stick, before hitting our usual haunt, the Skillet, on the way back to the car to have a few drinks. What a great day!

I took the dogs for a ride over the weekend while Erin was having a bit of a down day at home and we wanted to get out of the house. Our usual spot, if we're feeling up for it, is to ride out to Mills Canyon, about two hours from here, where the dogs can just run and run and run out on the National Grasslands. So, we spent about four hours in the car, watching the now very green plains rolling by, as the dogs took turns napping and chewing on bones while I manned the wheel. We were out this way a month or so ago and it was nothing but browns, tans and yellows. This time it was very reminiscent of the East Coast with all of its various shades of green. As far as work is concerned, I had to go into Santa Fe twice this week to help the boss at the site where we tore down that old casita a few weeks ago. Our main project was to lower the kitchen counters 4" so that the new owner(who is on the short side) can more easily use them as they were custom built for the previous owner(who was on the very tall side). With impact drivers, a saws-all, hammers, a pry bar and a level, we were able to lower both counters in the kitchen back to normal height, while also running some internet cables out the front wall and over the roof so that the internet could reach the bedroom at the back of the house. Adobe walls are not at all conducive to WiFi working very well, so this was a temporary fix until we do it properly later on with an actual buried cable in a trench. Otherwise, I cleaned tree debris off of the roof, as it was causing water to pond with all the storms that we've been having, and just generally cleaned up the place a bit. Erin's been working separately, on her own, at the same place once or twice a week and has been transforming their old neglected yard into a freshly weeded and planted oasis. She's been enjoying the side gig tremendously and thus far has been having no problems getting all of her ranch duties done every day, too...she just loves getting off of the ranch!

So, here's another batch of pictures for everyone. First up, a baby tarantula that was flushed out of its hole in the ground by all the rain that I found dead on one of the new house's patios. Then, three shots of the bull snake that I found: showing total length; a headshot; and then the white underside of it...the day after I extricated it and laid it behind the new house by a tree, it was already gone and something had eaten it! Next, four shots from my little getaway with the dogs: first, them crashing immediately after we set out; then, a shot of Wagon Mound from the north; next, a shot looking east out over the plains north of there; and, finally, a shot from right above Las Vegas looking west towards the Rockies. Then, three shots from the day of the big downpour: first, water pouring out of the big field into a drainage pond right along the driveway; then, a shot in the horse pasture of how green everything is now; and, then, the dogs swimming in the pond after the rain put about half of the field into it. Next, a shot out the buggy door that I thought was nicely framed by the door window and added to by the side view mirror. Then, Erin in her Fourth of July outfit, Latin-style, complete with Fedora. And, lastly, three shots from my foray into Santa Fe this week: first, mid-commute at 7am and 7000' before hitting the pass; then, two shots from being up on the roof, one showing town stretching away to the north and west and the other showing the mountain right behind the place. What a cool part of town to get to work in!

Alright, that about wraps it up for this week!