Some Thoughts Today

 A submersible has disappeared. News reports vary, speculation abounds, but it's now at the time the search and rescue is a recovery. Time will tell what happened, and they may never find it, but two of the most dangerous things to do underwater were attempted. One was going to an extreme depth, and the other was diving on a wreck. Adding the lack of rescue equipment on hand, and the recipe for disaster was complete. 

Adam Schiff is officially censured. That's seems to be a poor trade-off for keel-hauling.

The alphabet sex crusade is finding push-back. Companies are losing huge amounts of revenue, schools are becoming battlegrounds, and a substantially small part of the population will now find being severely outnumbered is not the same as having the high ground. How it ends is yet to be seen, but the pendulum is now swinging in the other direction, and it never swings lightly.

A young, impressionable, advocate of climate Nazism is having a breakfast of crow this morning. She'll probably not share it with her smug, evil handlers.

Gas prices went up this week. It's summer, people that want to go vacationing need to be punished, and the annual event has started.

Fox News is going all in with becoming a wannabe CNN. That's like chasing a crippled goat down a steep canyon. Only fools can understand the process. 

Locally, the shootings are numerous. That, and the rural criminals are finding the pickings aren't as good as they are in the city. I blame much of this on the economy, which leads to the actions of the government,  which leads to decades of the EEO policies. According to those policies, the only qualifications needed for the most important of jobs are the color of skin and genitalia. It sounds good, until you realize the $250,000 submersible trip to the Titanic is from a company that embraces the policies. 

It's been hot here, but not as dry as last summer. If someone asked me what I thought was happening, I'd say the tilt of the Earth's rotation creates an annual event where solar radiation is more direct, and this leads to longer days in the Northern Hemisphere. Of course, many would disagree because they worship at the alter of AGW.

There's more, but I need to go make breakfast. That, and maybe do something productive today.

Added Note: They found the submersible. Debris indicates it imploded. From what I've read, carbon fiber can't be tested for structural failure, so a serious flaw could never be exposed. I don't know if those involved were ignorant, or decided to cross their fingers and hope for the best. 

It Was A Good Trip - Part 4

Driving into the mountains of the Lincoln National Forest was a high point in my life. When most of your life is spent in the Coastal Plains of Texas, or the swampland of Louisiana, mountains are a treat. Besides the splendor, and vistas, the lower temperature is pleasant. Adding the lack of high humidity makes it even better. Photographs really don't show the depth, but the steep hills are something to see. 

It was early, and not that far from where we would stay, so we detoured to Lincoln, the central point of the Lincoln County War and the escapades of Billy the Kid. Any tourist attractions, or vendors were not there. Apparently, since it was before Memorial Day, everything was closed, except the local sheriff's office. I met him, when I pulled off the road for my wife to take a picture, and he sternly reminded me to be completely off the paving, if I wanted to stop. I pulled off, he gave me a dirty look, and drove on. I doubt he has much use for tourists, unless they open their wallets to help the local commerce. 

I'm thinking there's much to see inside the buildings. There's much history in the area, but without that, the following picture pretty well sums up how small Lincoln is. 

Maybe, one day in the future, we'll return during the on season. For those that are thinking of going, wait until after Memorial Day, and enjoy the trip to and from. That, and think of how rough life was during the late eighteen hundreds. Navigating that brutal terrain had to be tough, and herding cattle a nightmare.

This was the start of our visit to this part of New Mexico. Our motel was in Ruidoso, which is beautiful, but definitely a tourist town. There is an airport nearby, which allows those with airplanes to fly in for whatever reasons. I can't write anything bad about the city, and for those that like tourist areas, it's fantastic, and the people are nice. I'll just post pictures with notes to shorten the description of the next few days. 

Fort Stanton Cemetery, which is a national cemetery. Graves are from every conflict, and it takes hours to walk among them, if you decide to do so. There is a directory. 

Looking west toward the Gila Mountains across the White Sands. I don't know how many miles this is, but it's a substantial part of New Mexico.

Mexican Canyon Trestle. All that remains of a narrow gauge railroad used to haul the original huge Douglas Firs from the mountain to Alamagordo. Better photos can be found on the internet.

 

Trail that allows you to wander among the Three River Petroglyphs.  It's in the Tularosa Basin.

One that stood out to me. I'm thinking with the amount of access, some may not be original. This one looks very old. There are many, and if it's hot, wandering can be a dangerous effort. That, and unsafe for those that are not surefooted. 

Small Catholic church down the road from the petroglyphs. 

Ruins near the church. I'm thinking they're really old, since I've never seen those types of bricks at Lowe's.

Dry wash near the ruins and church. I don't know where the parishioners come from, but it must be far away. This area is best described as desolate. 

 

 Part of the Carrizozo Volcanic Fields. The history of the volcano that created the fields is interesting, and you're supposed to be able to see the cone, if you know where to look. I couldn't see anything that indicated a cone, which is around ten miles from where I was. 

After we came home, and I looked up the Trinity Site, I realized were not far from where the first atomic bomb was tested. That's something I'd like to see, but the rigamarole to go is complex, and offered only a few times each year. Even then, you ride a bus to the site and are warned to not pick up the green glass that is still radioactive.

One of the last places we stopped, before going back for our last night at the motel, was of a large area ravaged by a forest fire years before. The bare hills were once covered with Ponderosa Pines. Generations will never see them, and from what I saw of the forest, a substantial amount of forest was either logged, or burned. 

The trip home was basically uneventful. We chose a different path through Texas, which allowed us to see multiple miles of rolling hills covered with sparse, dry vegetation interspersed with hundreds of oil wells. We spent one night in Waco, and made the much shorter drive the next day.

I didn't have the time, or money, to spend the amount of time I would have liked touring New Mexico. There's caverns, the Gila National Forest, and multiple square miles of things I'd like to see. What I did see only made me want to see more, and maybe I'll get the opportunity again.

I have to add that when I started these posts, it seemed like something good to do. After it was all said and done, I realized they look like what I dread, which is someone wanting to show me photos of their vacation. It's not that it's a bad thing, but people lose interest after about fifteen milliseconds, and want to move on to something else, or go home. 

Well....It Got Away

Yesterday, while attempting to ring a bell on my sister-in-law's porch, I was attacked, and stung, by a stealth wasp. Stealth wasp? I never saw it. I must have turned my head for a moment, it flew from inside the bell, stung me on my right arm, and was gone before I could see what it was. 

I know it was a wasp, since bees leave their stinger, and the pain is different. I haven't been stung in years, but the familiar pain reminded me of years ago, being stung by a wasp, and ending up at the doctor, when the red streaks started up my leg. I was young, and don't remember what they did for treatment, but remembered a cigarette tobacco poultice usually helps. With a convenient ash bucket close, I made a poultice out of a butt, and applied it. It helped, but I was still wary. 

After a few minutes of waiting, realizing no severe reaction would happen, and being totally pissed, I went home, washed the area, and took an antihistamine. Later, an area about 3 inches in diameter appeared, and felt warm to the touch. 

Today, the area is still there, itching, and slowly fading. It will disappear in a few days, and if it's like some wasp stings I've endured before, the muscle will ache for days. 

It's time to get out the Bifen, spray her porch, spray around her house, and kill whatever insects are trying to inhabit the area. He porch is a really nice place to sit, and in the evenings, it's cooler than my porch. Wasps aren't invited, and will be executed as needed.

Sultry Misery

We've had excessive heat warnings for days, and more to come. The mornings are in the upper seventies, the humidity is a wet blanket, and doesn't go down much during the day. Heat indexes are in the triple digits, which means sweat doesn't dry and the lack of evaporation leads to body temperatures in the dangerous level. 

This will eventually change, and according to the weather folks, we'll transition into a pattern of increasing thunderstorms. The intensity is the question, but some think we'll be exposed to those with hail and high winds. Time will tell, but the heat is drying everything to the stress point. Without water, we'll be getting burn bans, and wildfires started by those that ignore the burn bans. 

It Was a Good Trip - Part 3

The first thing I noticed about New Mexico was the immediate reduction in the speed limit. In Texas, when the highway is in good condition, and the conditions are favorable to higher speed limits, it's not uncommon to find 75 mph maximum speed limits on roads some might think is too fast for conditions. Whether that's good, or bad, isn't nearly important - in my opinion - as allowing those the opportunity to cover the same distance in a shorter period of time. The 65 mph speed limit was way too slow in my opinion. 

The long highway had power poles on the south side of the road, and at least every other pole had a bird nest in the crossbar. The appearance of the nests reminded me of those made by crows in my part of the woods. A little research by my wife, and the only birds to be seen during the drive, made me certain we were seeing the work of ravens. At first, I thought they were crows, but they were larger, as were their nests. 

We stopped for my wife to take a photo of one in its nest. Unperturbed by our intrusion, it just watched as she got out and took the photo. 

Considering the surrounding area, the lack of water, and the general desolation of the plains, I wondered what they had to eat. I, also, wondered if the number of nests were the current, or a combination of new and abandoned nests from years past. I'll probably never know, but if some were old, they must have been built well. There is nothing to block the wind, and strong winds are known to blow in the High Plains. 

I have to add at this point that the High Plains in this area were in a drought during our trip. The dry, arid landscape probably has some better foraging for cattle during wetter seasons. There are fences, which indicate cattle ranching, but it would take a lot of acreage to keep only a few cattle alive. We didn't see many, which either indicates they're moved to other pastures, or sold at auction at whatever price that could be had. Oil wells dot the landscape, so regardless of the cattle business, oil could still provide income.

We passed through a small town named Tatum which is part of a large county, with a seat in Lovington, New Mexico. There's a lot of territory between the county seat, and Tatum. As far as I could tell, Tatum is a necessary location for those living in the northern part of the county. I didn't see a grocery store, but it might have been off the main drag, but there was fuel, convenience stores, and the customary Family Dollar. It didn't take long to pass through and on to a longer section of empty highway.

During this stretch, we came upon signs for the Mescalero Sands. I'd never heard of the area, and a road offered access. It didn't take much of a drive down the road to make us turn around. The road became progressively worse, and the large rock provided for traction wasn't what I wanted to drive on. It may be a great place to visit, but from what I could see, it was like a really big beach. I'm not much for sandy areas after years of dealing with it in construction. It's always gritty, can ruin a good sandwich, and very unpleasant when the wind is blowing hard.

We crossed the Pecos right before Roswell. Nearly dry, about two dozen feet long, and only some muddy water was all to be seen; except how the channel, and bridge, can take a beating if the river is in flood. 

Roswell is much larger than I thought. With a population of over 40,000 people, and being a county seat, it's far from a small town with kooks capitalizing on UFO's and aliens. Only a few small businesses are related to the incident, and Roswell is best described as a clean, prospering smaller city. We only stayed long enough to have lunch and stop at a pharmacy for something we forgot to pack. For someone wanting to visit, there are plenty of hotels, restaurants, and from what I've researched, it's close enough to many things to see in New Mexico, including what is in Roswell. As far as where the "spaceship" crashed, that location is about 75 miles away near Corona. Roswell only played a part because of the Roswell Army Air Field was involved with the investigation of what a rancher found on their land.

We soon headed west and toward our destination. It was early, so we had time to dawdle and see what we felt like seeing. We weren't far out of Roswell when I saw something in the distance that caught my eye.  At the time, I didn't stop to take a photo, but did on the way home.

That's the first sight of the Capitan Mountains. On the way there, there were clouds behind the mountains, and the view wasn't nearly as clear. Still, it was a sight for me, since I was born, raised, and worked most of my life in the flat areas of the Coastal Plains of Texas. Mountains are far away, take a long time to reach, and views with anything poking above the horizon are not to be found. I was impressed, and the flat land soon turned into rolling foothills without much vegetation. 

We'd soon be in the Lincoln National Forest, and I was anticipating the visit.