Carlsbad Cavern National Park got itself a brushfire today, if you can call something that's burned at least a thousand acres a brushfire.
Highs over 100, up to 109, predicted for the next ten days. We're still in it; I'm glad some of the rest of you in this region, are moving out of this one (well, the front is changing, moving away from the more northern regions).
You can read our local stories on our paper's front page here.
Hopefully the hikers got out and the cave researchers either got out or stayed in the cave (staying in the cave can be workable, though it wasn't clear whether they were in the Big Cave or some other cave in the park. I do, however, trust cave researchers generally to be on top of this kind of thing.).
We had lots of rain in the La Nina last year, up until September, then nothing other than the several inches of snow that came with the frost that killed all of that stuff in February. Talk about a tinderbox situation.
There are fires all over the region; in Arizona, in Texas. Now it's coming closer to home, for me. I could see the smoke. I'm only about 20 miles northeast of the Park.
The US drought monitor is now telling us that June will be below average for precipitation. It's still saying the whole summer will be above average for temps. July-August are still equal chance for above/below precipitation.
Our city wells are still holding, but they're starting to talk about restrictions. I think it's kind of fascinating that the El Nino rain did enough for our aquifer (the Capitan) that we're still using it without the water salting up too badly, but it's starting to; I can see it on the surface of my soil as I water my plants. Time to do a lot more mulching.
Meanwhile, the City of Carlsbad City Council and Department of Development sporadically still mumble on about the need to increase the population down here.
How interesting. Or should I say: "Really?"
I can see another way to approach this...crack down on water usage so the more ingenious will do all right, and we get rid of the water profligates (like mining).
Won't happen though. It's industry that is killing us. Residential use is minor by comparison. And industry (read: corporations) have all the power. It doesn't have to be that way, though.
Things are going to get interesting around here with agriculture if this keeps up. Still, I'm a desert farmer; I want to keep growing my peppers and my heirloom squash and my heirloom tomatoes (which are doing quite well so far, even over 105 degrees). Yes, I want my little bit. I don't try to grow bad lawn on the deep easement I'm in charge of; I never water it. This year, it has Mexican hats and some other small people. Other years, it has stuff I have to cut down. It's kinda pretty, in a desert kind of a way, even without any rain since last September. Because I almost never cut it. And when I do, I let the trimmings lay. Since I don't offer this piece of land any shit (other than that kindly contributed by a stray dog), it's the best I can do; to give it back to itself.
That part of the 1/5 of an acre I'm in charge of here, is about half of the 1/5 acre I'm in charge of here, that doesn't have houses on it.
Some of the other half I don't water, either.
Can I haz my vegetables and flowers, please, City of Carlsbad? Especially since all of that is under trees or shadecloth and pretty much mulched? If I promise to mulch it even more? And since I give some of the vegetables away to my elderly neighbor, and sometimes other people?
Since I don't use our coal-generated electricity to run a swamp cooler, let alone an air conditioner?
Since it could be like this all summer?
Can I please?
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No, probably not. Miep, you should stop whining, you DFH, and stop keeping your windows open - in fact, we recommend nailing them shut - and get off your cheap ass and buy a swamp cooler or an air conditioner, we don't care. Just STFU and obey.
You know that if you don't, you will be ostracized.
And you know what that does, don't you, Miep?
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Well, no, I don't. Not quite, anymore. Because you can't do it to me. You can't ostracize me anymore. You can kill my friends; you can kill my human friends, you can kill the coyotes, the cougars and the bears; you can kill the butterflies and the moths, the ants, the bees, and the wasps. You can kill and kill and kill.
But you can't ostracize me until you kill all of us, and if you do that, you'll be dead too.
Thank you for listening.