Too Close for Comfort

On Monday morning, June 25, we looked out our window and saw what seemed to be a bonfire across the mesa to our west. By mid-afternoon, the bonfire had grown to a huge plume of smoke. Around 6:00 p.m., we noticed small planes flying in and out of the smoke, and through our binoculars, we could see licks of flame spreading toward a large adobe structure. As we headed out to the OBL for dinner later that evening, the smoke seemed to lessen, and by the time we returned home we saw no traces of smoke or fire. It was a huge relief to wake up on Tuesday morning and see that the fire had been contained, or so we thought.

On Tuesday afternoon, smoke was rising again and by 6:00 the fire was nearly as bad as it had been the day before, due to the high winds that blew from the west that afternoon. As the crow flies, this fire was only about 5 miles from our house. Even though the Rio Grande Gorge lies between our house and the fire, we still felt the fear that grips people in hot, dry areas during the summer. Could our little mesa community be next? Would we be able to evacuate in time if a fire started during the night? Only a few days before, we'd been saying that the fire danger must be very low this year because of all the rain. But we forgot that rain promotes the growth of grass, which easily turns to tinder when the weather turns dry.

By this morning (Thursday) the fire had been contained, but not before destroying 440 acres of Bureau of Land Management land. Fortunately no one was injured and no homes were burned--just lots of sagebrush, grass, and junipers. It turns out that the culprit was a lightning bolt that struck the Double D Ranch, which is about 5 miles west of the Gorge Bridge; the fire spread from there to the BLM land. Everyone in Taos is hoping that this is the one and only wildfire of the season.

Bugged

With the unseasonably heavy rains this spring, the mesa is quite green. While we never like to complain about the rain, we have found ourselves cursing the gods for sending a plague of biting insects to the mesa. Tiny mosquitoes and other bugs have made our first few weeks here rather uncomfortable for Lord Bison. Nearly everyone has itchy bites on their legs and faces, but Steve is suffering more than most. He seems to have an allergic reaction to the bites, which have turned into large red welts on his ankles and calves. The only remedy is anti-itch cream and long pants, even in the 90-degree heat. We hope they'll fade soon so that he can return to his usual summer attire of shorts and sandals!

Open House

Yesterday we hosted an open house at Las Mananitas to welcome our new neighbors, Kris and Ginger, to the mesa. Everyone had a wonderful time, especially when K. & G. brought out their instruments and treated the guests to a lovely concert of Latin jazz and a few country tunes. Some of our neighbors knew that Steve also plays guitar and persuaded him to serenade us as well. Steve was masterful as he sang "Outlaw" and "Rio Grande", with Kris' accompaniment on his twin guitar, and the guests were enraptured! With an audience of twelve, this was Steve's public debut as a singer/songwriter, and he received many compliments on his playing and his lyrics. One guest was convinced that Steve was singing about himself in "Outlaw"--but only Steve knows for sure!