The Fires continue.......

Wow! There's the Las Conchas, Pacheco, 346, Donaldson, Wallow fires and a couple more that I can't name at the moment going on in the area. The Wallow fire is about 82% contained!! Yay!! They haven't had any luck with Las Conchas and Pacheco fires, 0% containment.
Yesterday afternoon it got really smoky here in the city. The mountains disappeared! It was pretty scary looking. Later on it all cleared up. Today there was a little bit of smell of smoke in the morning but it's all gone. Los Alamos is practically a ghost town. They said about 150 people are still in the city but will be told to leave once the fire gets to town. They are doing their hardest to keep the fire from coning down the mountain. I think they said they added about 1,000 more firefighters to help. The thing about this fire is that it has reached near Cochiti and that the Dixon Apple trees are in much danger of being destroyed. Some have already burned. I'm thinking that Cochiti is between here and Santa Fe but I am wrong. I haven't been to Cochiti so I don't know exactly where it is. There's the exit from I-25 to Cochiti. I thought it was just down the road from there. I can only imagine how big this fire is, if it's that far from Los Alamos. I don't know if those in Espanola and Santa Clara Pueblo are safe. I heard something about the pueblo but didn't get the full story. I've got relatives there!
All I can say now is that we really have to pray. I was reading something I had for a few years and it was about prayer and the person told a story about how the prayers were answered. If we all do that, just think what a difference we might make. It's not just praying, it's keeping the Lord's commandments as well. As I read my scriptures it seems that that's the message I see: keep the commandments. There are other messages but that's the one that seems to be popping up!! Prayers, too.
After that said, it's sad to hear people tell me that I don't pray or read my scriptures. That's the reason for my situation I am in. They just don't know that the situation I am in has really helped me see things that they don't see. It's sad that they don't know that they are missing out. And then I upset some people because I have this wall hanging that says THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BRAIN CONTROLS THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BODY...SO BEING LEFT HANDED IS WHY I AM ALWAYS RIGHT! So there!
You all have a nice and happy day! If things aren't going as you'd like, just remember that there's someone that is in a rougher situation than you. Keep smiling and keep it positive!!!

Mandatory Evacuation!!

Los Alamos has been issued a mandatory evacuation now that the Las Conchas fire is near the city. I am praying that they can stop it from hitting the city.
I remember back when the fires hit the town. My brothers were working out there and there was word going around the neighborhood they were working that they need to evacuate. Back here in Albuquerque, their boss told them to stay because the fire won't get to where they are. But they're in Los Alamos and could see the fire in the backyard. They decided to ignore their boss and packed their things, as quickly as possible. They left behind the paint and things like that. Only took their stuff. As they were sitting in traffic trying to get back here, they said the fire hit the homes on the street they were on. And they were sure those popping noise were the paint cans left behind. Their boss was pretty mad that they lost all that. But the guys were not going to spend any more time retreiving that stuff. I mean he insisted they guys stay but once the sheriff got there, he told them to leave. This was about 10 years ago, or so. I don't remember exactly when the fire hit there.
It was just a scary feeling last night when I heard about the fire over there. I look to the north from here and you see the smoke from the Santa Fe Nat'l Park and now from Jemez Mountains.

Praying For Rain!

More fires came up today!! The bosque south of Belen is on fire. I don't remember how much has burned but they are trying to keep it under control. If it jumps the river those people on the east side may have to evacuate. The Pacheco fire is still going north of Santa Fe. They are trying to get a hold of it but the winds aren't helping. Earlier today a huge, huge fire, La Concha fire, started in the Jemez mountains and heading towards Los Alamos!! That's pretty scary because they say this one is really huge. Lots of winds that helped it grow. Voluntary evacuation for Los Alamos, I heard on the news. Then last night some idiot(s) were lighting firecrackers and bottle rockets near where I live. I wanted to find out exactly where it's coming from because I don't want my backyard to catch on fire. We have trees and the irrigation ditch is right there as well. That firecracker/bottle rocket could destroy a lot of homes, just like that. I think someone must have called the police or something because it stopped. Just to hear those last night, it's going to be pretty scary from now through July 4th because there are a lot of idiots living here in town.

We could really use some rain. They are saying it's the driest it's ever been since weather has been tracked in the area. Monsoon season is supposedly going on here. Weather people say that rain might come around July 4th. Hope they are right. It's really something to see what has gone on across the country. First the tornadoes that hit a lot of states and now there's the flooding near the rivers and over here we could use some of that flood waters.
I hope I spelled my words right. I usually go check it before I post but I don't feel like it today. Ha ha. I really can't stand to see people leave misspelled words.

More Fires!!

There's a fire east of Tesuque Pueblo, north of Santa Fe. It started on Saturday. It's still going but heading away from homes, which is a good thing. They haven't gotten it contained yet. The Wallow Fire is about 59% contained!! That's great news. The town of Luna, New Mexico was evacuated when the fire entered into New Mexico. And the fire unexpectedly jumped the line and forced the evacuation. Today the people were told they can go back home. The fire didn't reach the town. What a relief. We haven't really had any smoke in the city for a couple of weeks. I like that because I sometimes feel like I am going to suffocate when I smell the smoke and see it all over the place. I wanted to jump in a car and head where the air was clear. The fire up by Raton is 99% or was it 90% contained. Whatever, it's almost taken care of. I believe the interstate is open thru Raton Pass. Let's see, I don't remember how the fire is down by Carlsbad Caverns. I think it's just about put out as well. Then a fire popped up in Ruidoso over the weekend. I think it's about taken care of now. They are blaming a homeless person for that one. Another fire popped up down near Deming today. I haven't heard how that's going. The city and county has closed the Bosque. You can use only the paved walkway. Now July 4th is around the corner!! Hopefully people will be careful with their fireworks and know how dangerously fire can happen and how quickly!! No rain in sight even though it's Monsoon season!!

It was 95 degrees today. Someone complained about it being too hot! I said WHAT?? FOUR MONTHS AGO YOU WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW COLD IT WAS!!! It was like in the 30's back then.


Snow in February!

New Mexico Is On Fire!!

There's a fire down near Carlsbad Caverns. I think that is being contained faster than they thought it to be. They are having over 100* temperatures with 5% relative humidity and winds about 30-40 mph which is cause for dry lightning. They are hoping nothing will happen.
Then up north near Raton, they have I-25 closed to Colorado due to the fire north of Raton. Seems that they haven't really got a hold on this fire and according to the weather people, it might worsen if they can't get a hold of it. It's just the way the winds will change, or something like that.
Then the Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona is 29% contained!! That's a relief to hear. They kept it around 5-6% for days. So glad to hear the number go up and hope it gets to 100% containment. Those firefighters must be pretty tired fighting that fire since May 29th. We haven't had any smoke in the city for about a week now. Hopefully it stays that way. I really don't care for the smell or the sight of the smoke.
Governor Martinez is pleading with the people in the state to please watch what you do especially if it has to do with matches, cigarettes, etc.

The Wallow Fire

On May 29th, the Wallow fire started in northeastern Arizona and has been going on since. June 2nd I attended this MS event at the Sheraton at Menaul and Lousiana. Got there around 6 pm and left a little after 8 pm. As we walked out of the hotel we could smell smoke and see smoke all around us. Oh my, we were wondering if the Bosque was on fire. Someone said it was smoke from the fire in Arizona!! That smell stayed through the night. Next day it was all clear, no smell of smoke, either. The weathermen said that the smoke and smell will be back once the sun goes down and explained how it happens. So since then we had smoke and stinky campfire smell. One evening it's really bad, the next evening there's nothing and then the next evening it's bad again. I wish it would make up it's mind!! Monday around 4 pm it got really orange outside and was just plain weird to see the whole sky orange. And the smell, most people were wondering if their neighbor's house was on fire. I thought it might be the Bosque. The smell was so strong. By 2 AM the smell was gone. I am happy with the clear blue skies during the day but once it gets to sunset, the smoke settles in and brings along the ashes. The next morning the vehicles are covered with ashes. I wonder how long this will be. I hear it's really hard to contain the fires out there. And it's about to cross into New Mexico! People in Luna are not ready to leave home. They are packed up, but the would rather stay there. That's gotta be a tough decision as they've been living there for years and years.
Country singer Trace Adkins had his house burn down over the weekend. It was weird that I was thinking of him on Saturday afternoon (during the time the fire was supposedly happening.) I was thinking of his older daughters and wondered how many he had at home. He has two daughters in their 20s and knew that there's one at home. Then I remembered somewhere reading or heard he's got a total of 5 daughters. So there are three little ones at home. His wife wasn't at home when the fire started but was alerted and went home. The nanny was with the girls and because one of them had a fire safety class at school the family decided to draw up a plan in case of a fire. And it came in hand. When Rhonda returned home, there they were at the tree they were to meet at. I heard the neighbor went to rescue their dog and got bit. He didn't get mad about it because he knew the dog was probably disoriented. He's ok, too. Trace was on his way to Alaska for some fishing before his shows today and tomorrow. He immediately returned home when he heard of the fire. I am sure he made it back to Alaska for his show today and tomorrow. He returns to Nashville for Fan Fair. He's just perforiming at the nightly concerts at the coliseum.
Today we were stuck in traffic due to a car accident. Well, I was going to get off the interstate at Rio Bravo but decided not to get off. In the meantime I saw these two police cars in the two inside lanes coming up behind me. I thought it was weird thatthey were coming up side by side. Never seen that before. By the time I got to the top of the hill I noticed the cars were slowing down and then knew there was an accident down at the bottom of the hill. And those police cars never came over the hill. All of a sudden I noticed that there were no more cars coming over the hill. Hey, they had stopped the traffic at Rio Bravo. People had to get off there. We slowly made our way down the hill and around the accident. 3 cars involved. A truck with a trailer was hanging off the road over an arroyo. I think he flipped his truck several times. He didn't seem to be hurt at all. the other two drivers seem to be ok, too. So after we went by the accident we were going up the hill and over it. I looked over to Broadway and saw that there weren't many cars on that road. I wondered if they closed Broadway for some reason. Did the people think it was going to be slow on Broadway and headed more to the west to get the interstate? Not many cars were coming up on Broadway, where we got off. On the way back to the city, we noticed they just opened up the road. The vehicles were moving really slow as we went by. Up by the Rio Bravo exit, a semi-truck had stalled in the middle lane and was holding up the traffic there as well. The traffic was backed up all the way to Central Ave!! I was glad I was going the other direction. I know there are times I am sitting in traffic and wishing I was going the other way!!

Well, we'll see how long this fire continues and how long we get the smoke. No rain in the forecast, either. It's staying to the north. But our monsoons start up around June 20th, hopefully we get some of the much needed rain.
Joella Kivina Begay is now 2 months old. I will try really hard to get picture or two of here before she's 21