So a huge chunk of mountain fell onto the highway last week, and things were looking pretty grim. Nobody was hurt, thankfully, but it was about 40 or 50 tons, probably, and I was wondering how the heck they would get it off the road? (see picture in next post). I figured it would be about a month.
I was wrong. The road apparently reopened tonight. My hat's off in tribute to the guys in yellow jackets, the road crews. They apparently know exactly what they're doing.
It's actually a matter of being very methodical; of knowing what it takes and getting the equipment to the site; of communicating very clearly to the people who control traffic, and reroute it through Mescalero; of maximizing the work hours, so that some people actually work at night but basically one thing happens after another, and pretty soon, the rock is out of the way, then they fix the road, and finally they fix the guardrail and the shoulders. It's really quite amazing. But it's Monday night and it seems the road is open. People are driving from Alamo to Cloudcroft.
I have to say, though I am now retired and living in Illinois, that I really respect these guys in yellow jackets. What little I had to do with the volunteer fire departments, they were also quite good at this. You see the problem, you bring the necessary equipment, you apply the right force to the situation, you take care of it. It's impressive.
My hat's off to all of y'all.
Monday, January 30, 2023
Friday, November 11, 2022
Monday, May 16, 2022
A true mountain tale
I wrote this story about living in Sixteen Springs:
A true mountain tale
I am busy these days preparing to move out of the Cloudcroft area. I will miss it. I have especially loved Sixteen Springs. But a new life awaits us in other venues, and we'll be out of here around the first of June. More on that later.
A true mountain tale
I am busy these days preparing to move out of the Cloudcroft area. I will miss it. I have especially loved Sixteen Springs. But a new life awaits us in other venues, and we'll be out of here around the first of June. More on that later.
Saturday, September 18, 2021
Sunday, May 30, 2021
Prove Me Wrong
The fire at Marblehead Canyon, between Cloudcroft and Alamogordo, they said, was human-caused. Had to be, they said, because it waosn't lightning-caused.
Now I know there is a small community of desert campers who love it out there, way out West Side Road, which comes off south from around High Rolls, and goes along behind those Alamo mountains where it's real wild, and dry. You have to about have a humvee to get back up in there, and when you do, I suppose you are just as likely to light a cigarette as anyone. And just for the record, I don't want to argue with them about the lightning. If they know there was no lightning that day (about a week ago), that is good enough for me.
But here's something they apparently didn't consider, though they could have just called it "human-caused." I think it's possible that that fire was "space-rocket-caused," since a space rocket had taken off from Las Cruces the night before.
The space rocket didn't really make much news. It was private; it was successful; apparently some people went into space, but not far into space, and they came back, and I assume lived to tell the tale. You didn't hear much about how private rocket launches would change our lives out here in the country, or how it was a new age of space travel. Maybe it wasn't very new.
But this is my argument: It would be hard to get that rocket up there, in any situation, without dropping a few sparks, not to mention a few very hot pieces of rocket. Those had to land somewhere. They could land in the White Sands or somewhere out on that missile range and probably nobody would know the difference - in some places vegetation is so sparse that you can catch one bush on fire and the others won't catch; they're too far apart.
But up in Marblehead Canyon, there's enough, now, so that a fire could start and still be burning the next morning. It's dry enough.
And so comes my prediction. We who live out at the end of the road, in a dry forest, with hundreds of miles of dry forest to our sides and edges, might be called upon to pay close attention in the coming years. Space rockets may keep us on our toes. But here's another problem: drones. People are beginning to use them to hunt. Why not? They will be all over this valley as well, and they will provide the hunter pictures of where the deer and elk are, and even do the shooting. The hunter then just has to know how to go out and find them.
What will we do about drones? I have no idea. I'm not even sure what we should do about space rockets. All I can say is, a little more rain wouldn't hurt.
Now I know there is a small community of desert campers who love it out there, way out West Side Road, which comes off south from around High Rolls, and goes along behind those Alamo mountains where it's real wild, and dry. You have to about have a humvee to get back up in there, and when you do, I suppose you are just as likely to light a cigarette as anyone. And just for the record, I don't want to argue with them about the lightning. If they know there was no lightning that day (about a week ago), that is good enough for me.
But here's something they apparently didn't consider, though they could have just called it "human-caused." I think it's possible that that fire was "space-rocket-caused," since a space rocket had taken off from Las Cruces the night before.
The space rocket didn't really make much news. It was private; it was successful; apparently some people went into space, but not far into space, and they came back, and I assume lived to tell the tale. You didn't hear much about how private rocket launches would change our lives out here in the country, or how it was a new age of space travel. Maybe it wasn't very new.
But this is my argument: It would be hard to get that rocket up there, in any situation, without dropping a few sparks, not to mention a few very hot pieces of rocket. Those had to land somewhere. They could land in the White Sands or somewhere out on that missile range and probably nobody would know the difference - in some places vegetation is so sparse that you can catch one bush on fire and the others won't catch; they're too far apart.
But up in Marblehead Canyon, there's enough, now, so that a fire could start and still be burning the next morning. It's dry enough.
And so comes my prediction. We who live out at the end of the road, in a dry forest, with hundreds of miles of dry forest to our sides and edges, might be called upon to pay close attention in the coming years. Space rockets may keep us on our toes. But here's another problem: drones. People are beginning to use them to hunt. Why not? They will be all over this valley as well, and they will provide the hunter pictures of where the deer and elk are, and even do the shooting. The hunter then just has to know how to go out and find them.
What will we do about drones? I have no idea. I'm not even sure what we should do about space rockets. All I can say is, a little more rain wouldn't hurt.
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
they shoot wild horses don't they
Let me see if I got this story straight. Some of the wild horses wandered into town, and actually stayed there for about a week. They were eating grass in the schoolyard, and in the park, and if there wasn't trouble with a passing car or maybe a kid walking home from school, there would be soon enough.
But then someone came along and shot them, all four of them. Shot them, and left their dead bodies where they were, for someone else to clean up. I didn't hear much about this; it wasn't on the news, and a lot of people felt that something bad was going to happen anyway.
But then someone went and shot two more, out on a country road. Like it's open season. It's like, if no one is going to get mad about this, might as well shoot them whenever we see them. Now as far as I know they don't do this with the deer or elk, though they could; they could probably pop a few out on a country road and who would know any better? But in this case, again, they left the bodies there for someone else to clean up. That someone, I would imagine, is probably a little annoyed by now.
It could be that the problem was, we weren't mad enough about it, the first time they did it. People just shrugged. Nobody called the newspaper. It seemed like they were going to hurt someone anyway.
I will give you my solutions. I will be the first to admit I am not from around here and am not quite sure what to do. But I can tell you, the horses are beautiful, and they don't deserve to be assassinated.
1. Get out the fire department. Next time they are in town, make a lot of noise in their faces. Make sure they know their life will be miserable if they hang around in town. Anywhere else is ok; we drive carefully anyway. Just don't let them nuzzle up on the schoolchildren.
2. Get the state involved. The state can actually find them a better place to live, if this area has become too crowded for them. The state has the resources to round a few of them up, and take them to a place where there's fewer people. Of course, Sierra Blanca is kind of out of the picture at the moment. But there are plenty of other places.
3. Get the National Forest to create a refuge for them. This they might actually do. Just an agreed-upon acreage, where it is marked perhaps with signs, and where we all know there are a lot of horses in here. All up against the reservation or wherever they are coming from.
4. Tell the world. Now this, I'm sure, is not your favorite. If you had New York City filmmakers out here interviewing the locals, they would make us look bad. To them, wild horses are the coolest thing on earth. To us, we're shrugging our shoulders when a few of them get shot. It's a difference in perception. You don't want those guys coming around, pick from #1-3 fast. This is our problem, so let's solve it. These horses can live in our world; in fact we want them to. They're good for us. They're beautiful. And they're free, as long as we leave them that way. Let's make sure they stay away from the village schoolchildren though, ok?
5. Do some policing. It probably is possible to figure out who's going around murdering horses. It's undoubtedly someone who is more than well-armed, eager to use his gun, and thinking if it's ok with him and his friends, it's ok. NO IT'S NOT. Murder is never ok. Hunting might be ok, if you eat them. Just murdering them is not.
I have given myself away; I love them, and don't want to see them murdered. I like the elk and deer too even though it means I have to drive very carefully every minute. To me it's worth it. It's what makes the mountains special.
But then someone came along and shot them, all four of them. Shot them, and left their dead bodies where they were, for someone else to clean up. I didn't hear much about this; it wasn't on the news, and a lot of people felt that something bad was going to happen anyway.
But then someone went and shot two more, out on a country road. Like it's open season. It's like, if no one is going to get mad about this, might as well shoot them whenever we see them. Now as far as I know they don't do this with the deer or elk, though they could; they could probably pop a few out on a country road and who would know any better? But in this case, again, they left the bodies there for someone else to clean up. That someone, I would imagine, is probably a little annoyed by now.
It could be that the problem was, we weren't mad enough about it, the first time they did it. People just shrugged. Nobody called the newspaper. It seemed like they were going to hurt someone anyway.
I will give you my solutions. I will be the first to admit I am not from around here and am not quite sure what to do. But I can tell you, the horses are beautiful, and they don't deserve to be assassinated.
1. Get out the fire department. Next time they are in town, make a lot of noise in their faces. Make sure they know their life will be miserable if they hang around in town. Anywhere else is ok; we drive carefully anyway. Just don't let them nuzzle up on the schoolchildren.
2. Get the state involved. The state can actually find them a better place to live, if this area has become too crowded for them. The state has the resources to round a few of them up, and take them to a place where there's fewer people. Of course, Sierra Blanca is kind of out of the picture at the moment. But there are plenty of other places.
3. Get the National Forest to create a refuge for them. This they might actually do. Just an agreed-upon acreage, where it is marked perhaps with signs, and where we all know there are a lot of horses in here. All up against the reservation or wherever they are coming from.
4. Tell the world. Now this, I'm sure, is not your favorite. If you had New York City filmmakers out here interviewing the locals, they would make us look bad. To them, wild horses are the coolest thing on earth. To us, we're shrugging our shoulders when a few of them get shot. It's a difference in perception. You don't want those guys coming around, pick from #1-3 fast. This is our problem, so let's solve it. These horses can live in our world; in fact we want them to. They're good for us. They're beautiful. And they're free, as long as we leave them that way. Let's make sure they stay away from the village schoolchildren though, ok?
5. Do some policing. It probably is possible to figure out who's going around murdering horses. It's undoubtedly someone who is more than well-armed, eager to use his gun, and thinking if it's ok with him and his friends, it's ok. NO IT'S NOT. Murder is never ok. Hunting might be ok, if you eat them. Just murdering them is not.
I have given myself away; I love them, and don't want to see them murdered. I like the elk and deer too even though it means I have to drive very carefully every minute. To me it's worth it. It's what makes the mountains special.
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