840,000 acres

The spring winds that have been blowing so strongly the past two weeks seem to be dying down a bit. It's a little cooler, a little more humid. This is good news for the firefighters in the TX Panhandle who are still battling parts of Sunday's fires. 840,000 acres burned to date. 2% of the land mass of the state. A burn area larger than Rhode Island.

The vast majority of firefighters battling these blazes are volunteers. Volunteers who saw the homes of those they know burn to the ground. Saw livestock injured and killed by fire. Saw the loss of life that they couldn't prevent. 1900 people were evacuated on Sunday. That doesn't sound like many until you realize that it was entire towns that were being evacuated. Towns whose livelihood is dependent upon the rangelands and ranches that are now absolutely devastated. It will be years before "normal" returns to this area and ranchers are able to use their lands for grazing once again.

Natural disasters are always heartbreaking, no matter where or what kind, but it's even harder when it hits home. And my heart just broke when I heard first heard the short bit on the radio Monday morning. While my hometown wasn't affected by this week's fires in the TX panhandle, these places are still home. Growing up, I knew someone from each of the affected towns. In high school, we played the sports teams from many of these towns, saw them at academic competitions, met in Amarillo at the mall, went to college at Texas Tech. The people affected by the fires could just as easily been my brothers, sister, aunts, uncles or grandparents.

As I've read the Amarillo newspaper each morning, I'm more and more impressed with the strength and character of the citizens of these little towns. There is no finger-pointing at what should have been done or who was in the wrong. And yes, I know it could be coming but it hasn't yet. Perhaps it is because they know it could have been worse. Or that it still might be--sadly, there's plenty more rangeland that is just tinderbox dry. Perhaps it is just because that is how these people are. They don't see the good in pointing fingers. These are salt-of-the-earth people who work hard all week, go to church on Sundays, love their neighbors as themselves. No need to worry about what was, just fix what needs fixing and move on. Help out however you can. Take some food to those in need. Offer your home, your car, some hay, your shoulder to cry on--anything that might help those who are affected heal a little bit.

And in the meantime, those of us who aren't at home can send a little money and offer a few prayers for the families who lost loved ones, for the ranchers who lost so much, for the volunteers to who helping make things right. And for all of us in the parched, dry Southwest, we can pray for rain.

A wee little gripe

Word verification.

I understand the need for it and heck, I've even got it myself on the comments. However, why can't they be a more uniform length? Some are four letters, some ten. And I NEVER get it correct on the first try.

I'm like a word verification imbecile.

Al-brrrr-querque

OK, so it's really not that cold but compared to the weather we've had, it's right nippy outside. It was an absolutely beautiful early spring day on Monday--mid-70's, sunny, no wind. Just a perfect day. Today--not so much. Earlier today, there was a strong wind kicking up all the dirt and crude (it seems to have died down now); the temperature is in the mid-40's and it was overcast most of the day. I skipped the gym because all I wanted to do was head home and curl up on the couch with a blanket and something warm to eat (which I did and it was good).

When I looked outside about 5:00, this is what I saw:

Yes--that's snow. Snow. It didn't stick around long and it wasn't much but it was snow. The first picture is the bench by our front door. The second is our itty-bitty back yard, lovely and green. It isn't courtesy of Mother Nature, by the way. It's Real Turf--basically our backyard is fancy Astroturf. I love it though--no watering, no mowing, minimal maintenance. Paul wanted to make the entire thing a putting green but I vetoed that. Instead, it's the longer "lawn" length. It doesn't feel quite like real grass but it's soft enough. And hey, I don't have to worry about the weird rash I normally get after sitting in real grass.

It is supposed to be cooler through the weekend, with a chance of rain/snow on Saturday. We definitely need the moisture and it would be nice to see some more snow this year. Maybe it will tame the pollen as well. I'm not normally affected by allergies too much but this year, the juniper is really bothering me. Claritin is my friend this year.


Jubjub checking out the weather. Yep, snow.

Friday Jub

We're still taking way too many pictures of the cat. This one is courtesy of Paul, taken on a recent sunny afternoon.

(Pardon all the mess on the bar. And in the kitchen. Oh, and that dining rooom chair over there. I just liked the way Jub looked here.)

Up, up and away

Paul and I visited the new Balloon Museum with his parents on a recent Sunday afternoon. The Balloon Museum opened in October, coinciding with the annual ABQ Balloon Fiesta, but this was the first time we'd been to the museum. The outside of the museum was designed to look like a museum inflating, lying on its side (OK, you might have to squint to fully appreciate that). Inside, it's beautiful museum covering not only the history of ballooning but the role ABQ has played in that history and information about the ABQ Balloon Fiesta. It isn't as large as I'd thought but it is interesting to see how much the sport of ballooning has changed over history, starting with the rooster, sheep, and duck in a basket to the high-tech technology incorporated into today's gas balloon races.

From our visit to the museum. We weren't floating high among the clouds but were in a prop gondola in one of the museum areas. It would take lots of convincing to get me to actually go up in a balloon--I think it would be exciting but there's not seatbelts way up there and the landings aren't exactly gentle.

The Balloon Fiesta is one of my favorite things about ABQ. My father-in-law went to the first balloon rally--a mere 13 balloons lifted off from near one of the malls in town in Feb. 1972. Paul's first balloon fiesta was the 2nd one ever held, in February 1973. His mother says that she sat in the car with a baby Paul (he was about 6 months old), her mother and grandmother and watched the balloons going up at the State Fairgrounds.

Paul and I have been to see the balloons almost every year since 1997, missing only twice--1999 because of a little thing called a honeymoon and 2002 because, well, no one came to visit us that year and we preferred to watch from the comfort of our pajamas and balcony. But it is such a wonderful time of the year--the weather is near perfect most years--and the balloons never cease to amaze. We usually have a variety of visitors in town to see us and the balloons, and I always enjoy having company. Paul laughs that not only is the fiesta the most-photographed event, it's also the earliest. I love to get to the field for Dawn Patrol--those first balloons going up to check the weather conditions--which usually puts us on the road at about 4:45 a.m. But we're rewarded with breakfast burritos, hot chocolate, mini cinnamon rolls and the beautiful balloons (the little guy in my profile pic. is from this year's fiesta). And despite the huge crowds, the spectators at the fiesta are always so cheery and it's such a friendly atmosphere. It's just a wonderful event, definitely worth going to every year. At the 2005 Balloon Fiesta--it was a beautiful morning for the balloons and a wonderful way to celebrate our 6th anniversary