Out of Storage Capacity
The Great New Mexico Drought is cracked. Not broken, mind you, just cracked. Here in this marvelous little microclimate called “The East Mountains” (the east side of the mountains east of Albuquerque; actually the Sandias, Manzanitos and Manzanos), and especially in this valley between Raven Road, Kuhn Road, Skyland Boulevard and the Isleta Reservation, the rains have come and come and come. In the last three weeks, more than six inches of rain (and hail and sleet!) have fallen. The crunchy grasses and crackling pine needles have grown soft. Green of every shade has sprung from the plants and the ground itself, and all things with roots are rejoicing. I’m not sure how long it takes to rehydrate the cores of thick ponderosa trunks (they were only 25% of what they should have been in interior moisture – Roman candles awaiting ignition), but they have got to be on their way. Most of this water has soaked into the ground very quickly after each rain, bathing their roots. Only in the...