Welcome to my World

Welcome to the domain different--to paraphrase from New Mexico's capital city of Santa Fe which bills itself "The City Different." Perhaps this space is not completely unique but my world shapes what I write as well as many other facets of my life. The four Ds figure prominently but there are many other things as well. Here you will learn what makes me tick, what thrills and inspires me, experiences that impact my life and many other antidotes, vignettes and journal notes that set the paradigm for Dierdre O'Dare and her alter ego Gwynn Morgan and the fiction and poetry they write. I sell nothing here--just share with friends and others who may wander in. There will be pictures, poems, observations, rants on occasion and sometimes even jokes. Welcome to our world!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Castles and Clouds

There are not many castles in the desert. One exception being the home of the late Death Valley Scotty perhaps. I have not seen it but heard it is quite fantastic. Of course some of the cliff dwellings left by  the ancient early Native Americans have been termed castles also but they don't approach the kinds of edifices we think of when we hear the word castle.

I am sure I would not want to live in one! They were grand but austere, cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and lack so many of the amenities that we take for granted, even those of  us who live in very small and modest homes. How running water! Refrigerators and dish washers! Real indoor plumbing. I could go on!! Still they are the stuff of myth and romance and many of us are fascinated by them. I have a bit of interest in one in Wales, Powys or Powis Castle. Supposedly my maternal grandmother's family, surnamed Wilcox, had some distant ties to the hereditary laird of that castle. I went on line and found some pictures and learned it is famed for its beautiful gardens including the terraces leading up to the castle itself which sits atop a hill. I found it even has its own facebook page! You can check out www.facebook.com/NTPowisCastle. I did grab one picture which I will share. Isn't it quite grand? I like the red stone or brick exterior but no,. I still would not want to live there!

Now clouds are much more common here in the southwestern US  deserts, especially during monsoon season. Today they were marvelous--great towering thunderheads or cumulo-nimbus I believe is the proper name for this form of cloud. They were billowing up just about everywhere one could look from my home here on the lower edges of the foothills of New Mexico's Sacramento Mountains. Across the valley to the west, over the Organs and the San Agustin ranges, probably farther away as well over in the mountains behind Truth or Consequences where the Silver Fire was just recently doused by the rains. And all along the range of mountains that I now call 'mine' since I live at their feet. I did take a few pictures which I will share. We did not wind up getting any rain today--did have a half inch yesterday in a fast hard rain late in the afternoon but it cleared enough to have a nice cookout and eat on the covered patio! That's the way the summer rains usually are--fast and furious and then they move on.
About to rain!










Classic Thunderhead!

Clouds over the Sacramentos


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Monsoon Magic

I don't doubt that some folks are spinning in their graves to hear me use that term! I grew up among old time south westerners who knew this season simply as "the summer rains." Then troops came back from Southeast Asia speaking about monsoons and the new term crept quickly into common usage. Technically our rainy season does meet the monsoon criteria of a significant shift in the currents in the atmosphere which cause a major change in the weather for a region. And btw, it is not plural unless you are speaking of the phenomenon over several years or in several separate regions! There is generally one monsoon per year regardless of how many storms or rains it produces!

In this regional US case the high level winds shift to blow from the south and east bringing in tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Still we do not get the same kind of massive torrential rains that hit India and Southeast Asia. I just read  there were 6000 people missing in floods in northern India. Perish the thought we get that here! We do have flash floods and they can be destructive and dangerous, though. Every year one or more people lose their lives by getting caught in ditches or arroyos that are dry one moment and awash with roaring water the next. A few inches of rushing water can sweep you off your feet or start a car floating--and in most cases that is all it takes to steal your chances to get out alive.

But my original topic was the wonders of this time of year. It can happen almost overnight--all at once moisture has come to the desert bringing amazing changes. I can tell the very first day. All at once the air instead of  the sharp edged 'hard' feeling of dryness is like wet silk sliding over your skin. Then the cacti and other desert plants that have gone faded and pallid sport new green and fresh growth. Weeds and grass spring up and grow visibly each day. Even the birds and other wee beasties are out to revel in it.

I am energized by the thunderstorms. In the morning it is usually mostly clear although there will be clouds, streaks or fuzzy clumps like herds of sheep. By noon they are billowing and towering over the mountains, white on top and dark gray beneath where the rain begins to fall. Then perhaps a storm will pull away and slip down to the lowlands. You get the chill of the outflow winds and soon the scent of ozone from the lightning and then the pungent odor of wet creosote and mesquite. Then the rain comes. I dash around to close windows and be sure nothing is out that should not get wet or might blow away but it's wonderful.

Speaking of this and of the rare springs and streams that grace the desert, the original editor of Arizona Highways magazine, Raymond Carlson,  mentioned "water in a thirsty land." How true that is. Every drop is precious. So for maybe eight or ten weeks we can enjoy this. There will still be hot and dryer days but the whole atmosphere is different. I've always loved it. I love to watch the lightning at night, usually a safe distance away since everywhere I have lived in the desert one could see many miles in at least a couple of directions. I've taken a lot of photos of lightning. Of course my "Spirit of Huachuca" is my favorite. Here it is again.

On to a related topic that will wrap up an earlier discussion. I showed you the first green leaves of the mesquites and even the knobby buds that precede them. I showed the fuzzy yellow blooms. Now it  is time for the beans to ripen. Due to the unusual rain we had in May, we're getting a bumper crop despite the general drought. In ancient times the Native American people of the region gathered them and ground them into meal and flour. The beans are high in protein and very nutritious. Most even have a wild but rather pleasant taste. The wild creatures will enjoy them too--everything from birds and rabbits to deer and even coyotes eat mesquite beans! Cattle and horses will also.

So that is the magic of monsoon season and the joys of water in a thirsty land. Here is a parting shot of how the thunder clouds look over the mountains here.  I think they are magnificent!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

With A Heavy Heart

I learned late Sunday of the death of nineteen firefighters in central Arizona. Although I did not know any of them personally, Prescott was almost a second home to me when I was growing up in the Verde Valley, just over one range of mountains to the east. I was also fairly familiar with the area around Yarnell, south west of Prescott,  where the fire still rages. Where rugged mountains rise precipitously from the desert, it is extremely rough and difficult country. It is also bone dry and plagued by savage winds fueled by differential heating and the abrupt rise in elevation. A sudden shift in those winds is what trapped the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew and incinerated them. This is a huge tragedy and the worst day for firefighters since 9-11. The men ranged in age from 21 to mid-40s, most in their twenties. So sad to have young lives cut short in this way.

These were no novices or weekend warriors. To be designated "Hot Shot" a crew must be experienced and well trained in fighting wildfires which is a completely different science than dealing with structural fires in metropolitan areas. There are probably only about 100 such groups nationwide. I cannot say which is "worse" but when you think of hiking several very rough miles with heavy gear and having to use mostly hand tools in battling an untamed monster of a blaze, often so intense it creates its on weather in terms of wind etc. you may have a vague idea of what these crews are dealing with. This team had been in New Mexico just a few weeks ago helping on some of the fires in the northern part of the state; they were actually training and mentoring a newer New Mexico team as well. So we feel the loss here too. Governor Martinez was near tears when she ordered flags flown at half staff for them. A crack team from the Zuni Reservation has gone to Yavapai County to take over part of the work the Granite Mountain crew cannot now accomplish. I can only pray they all go straight to The Best Place and that their families and friends find a little solace in knowing almost the whole world shares their pain.

Deirdre has been working along on a story about a pilot who flies on of the fire fighting  red tailed "slurry bombers" and when that tale is done it will be dedicated in memory of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. I will be watching to see if a fund is set up to assist the families and if so I will be giving a good share of those royalties to that cause.

Meanwhile here in New Mexico, a brutal fire still rages in the Gila Wilderness, the so-called Silver Fire. Although it is some distance from Silver City; its still in that county and region anyway. Friends there are shocked and stricken since the north western part of that region went up in smoke last year and now the eastern part will be gone as well. I have hated wildfires since I watched part of my beloved Mingus Mountain and that Black Hills Range (the area where the Silver fire started is also called the Black Range) burn back when I was a teenager. All these fires are tragic and when structures and lives are lost, even more so. The recent management policies of the Forest Service are felt by many to be making the situation much worse as are the financial cutbacks mandated by the government's economic fiasco and the current climate fluctuation to hot and dry is of course a huge factor as well. It is a horrific mess beyond a doubt.

So I can only pray for all those who are still out there on the fire lines, doing their best. They are as much or more in harm's way as any soldier in the battle zone and I honor them all for their courage and sacrifices. Each of them is a true hero and may the Powers That Be protect them from harm. And please, no more bad fires this year. Between the Black Forest fire in Colorado, several in New Mexico and this latest Arizona one, it is not being a good year. So much forest and wild lands I know and love is being destroyed. To say nothing of homes, valuable grazing land, wildlife and habitat and now lives. Please pray with me!

No pictures with this one; what could I possibly add? To show what used to be is fruitless and you can find more about the team etc. at various sites. Here is one link: http://news.yahoo.com/town-mourns-ariz-hotshots-storms-threaten-fire-142533291.html