We Did Say We Wanted Rain

New Mexico is a land accustomed to drought.  That doesn’t mean we like to go dry for month after month, but it’s not uncommon, and we cope.  If we’re lucky the winter snow pack is deep and melts in the spring instead of evaporating. If we’re really lucky the monsoon starts early and hangs around for a while

Gathering Storm

Last Thursday my area of the New Mexico high plains became excessively lucky.  What looked like a small storm flirting in the distance became an ominous dark gray sky up close and way too personal.  Rain fell in mass quantities, filling gutters, overflowing cisterns and picking up every stray stick in the yard to jam against the fence and back up at the gate.  Even when I sloshed out to ease the backup by opening the gate, the rushing water was well above my ankles.

The power went out about 8PM and came back on at 2AM.  In the meantime the storm itself was the show, flinging lightning across the night sky, continuing the onslaught of water.  I’m told just a few miles to the north, at the base of South Mountain, the moisture came down as hail, and decimated people’s yards.  We just had buckets of rain, and my plants haven’t been this happy for months.

Since then we’ve had some more rain, much less intense but no less welcome.  And the high desert is beginning to bloom again.