This started out smelling like rain, but what did we get?
Nothing but heartache.
They promise rain, but all we get is fire.
The North American Monsoon is a couple of days late. And I expect a few long-haul truckers may be running behind schedule too, with a 30-acre brush fire closing eight miles of Interstate 40 westbound, from Zuzax to Carnuel, and the eastbound lane of NM 333 from Tramway to Tijeras.
The thing lit up 5-ish yesterday evening with a real stiff wind from the east, and here at El Rancho Pendejo we could see aircraft trying to piss it out, so as the crow and/or smoking ember flies it was a good deal closer to home than we like. Many local roadies, among them Your Humble Narrator, get their kicks on NM 333, a.k.a. Old Route 66.
We had gotten a whole bunch of not much in the way of journalism about the fire by bedtime last night — a paywall from the Journal and a couple drive-bys from the TV people — so, after checking New Mexico Fire Info a few times we decided to roll the dice and hit the rack.
Today we awakened to another warm, dry morning and very little in the way of news about our neighborhood scorcher. There’s some confusion about whether I-40 is open again, but it seems certain that 333 is a no-go this morning as a bridge and power lines get a look-see.
The good news is that the monsoon is back on the menu today. It goes without saying that we will believe this when we see the blessed water falling from the skies. Who knows? The local journos might even give it a writeup.
Mad Blog Media 
June 17, 2022 at 9:21 am |
I have a hindered soul brother that lives in a tin can in Phoenix and is hoping and a playing for the seasonal monsoon. He had summited his can’s roof a couple of days ago in an attempt at covering the decrepit swamp cooler he has residing up there. He applied some kind of gluey, gloppy flex seal and believes the leak god may be appeased. Only a cooling monsoon may tell.
I suppose things might be really bad when the Alb-B-Cue Journal reports a story about a float-by shooting.
June 17, 2022 at 10:33 am |
I lived in a tin can once, in Greeley. It was an interesting experience, though I prefer a home that doesn’t shake, rattle and roll when the Amtrak roars past.
Come the monsoons what the local scribes tend to cover is homeless folks surfing the arroyos from the foothills to the valley floor. It’s a rough ol’ ride.
June 17, 2022 at 2:35 pm |
Tin can? You were lucky to live in a tin can…(and he knows what comes next)
June 18, 2022 at 12:18 am |
I don’t believe it !
June 17, 2022 at 9:21 am |
https://www.abqjournal.com/2509043/fire-crews-battling-brush-fire-near-i-40-in-carnuel.html
Updated: Friday, June 17th, 2022 at 9:05AM
Interstate 40 was reopened near Carnuel Friday morning following a brush fire that downed power lines and evacuated homes in the area.
The Bernalillo County Fire Department said around 7 p.m. that the freeway was open and evacuations were lifted but NM Highway 333 remained closed as crews restored power to the area.
BCFD Deputy Chief Zachary Lardy said on Thursday night that no structures had burned but residents were evacuated in some areas due to the 60-acre blaze. The cause is unknown and under investigation.
He said BCFD responded just before 5 p.m. to “a large outside fire” on the north side of I-40 in Carnuel and winds drove the flames to the other side of the freeway.
He said the fire burned several telephone poles, downing at least one and shutting down traffic on I-40.
Lardy said the homes evacuated were just south of I-40 in the Carnuel area, saying the evacuations and structured being threatened are “pretty isolated to that are.”
Lardy said the Forest Service dropped retardant to the west of the fire to make sure the blaze didn’t extend farther over the ridge and into the foothills. He said the blaze was pretty well contained on the south side but less so on the north side where the rocky terrain makes for a difficult firefight.
Lardy said downed power lines on I-40 would leave the freeway shut down for “several hours.”
The City of Albuquerque issued a health alert — advising residents to “limit outdoor activity — due to smoke from the fire.
Some residents watched the fire from their backyard in Carnuel before it spread beneath I-40 and onto the other side of the freeway. Firefighters could be seen suiting up to battle the blaze as other sprayed down houses to protect structures.
June 17, 2022 at 9:38 am |
A newspaper needs copy editors. Yes or no? Discuss.
June 17, 2022 at 10:20 am |
Yeah, I know. The New Mexican ain’t any better. Maybe they are dumping the retardant on the reporter’s desks.
June 17, 2022 at 10:28 am |
Hoohah. I was gonna make that joke but thought I’d wait and see if anyone else pulled the trigger. Well done indeed.
It’s tough to tell from The New Mexican‘s list of department contacts whether they still have any copy editors, which tells you they need copy editors. It could be that the only copy editor you are permitted to contact is the copy chief/designer and that the grunts remain anonymous. There is a “news content editor,” another indication that the outfit needs copy editors.
Back in the Day® I seem to recall we rocked a four-person copy desk, backstopping a city editor and assistant city editor who gave everything that first read. Pasatiempo and sports had their own editors.
June 17, 2022 at 11:02 am |
Yes, newspapers need copy editors. Spelling and grammar checkers and other Artificial Intelligence writing and editing stuff are no substitutes for a human copy editor. If you disagree with me, I will do these things: threaten your structured, evacuate the inside fire from your home, get the other to spray down your structure, and isolate your ass to the are!
June 17, 2022 at 11:10 am |
As one who needs much ed-a-ting, I did notice a whole lot of “Lardy said” in the report.
June 17, 2022 at 1:14 pm |
I really shouldn’t give these poor sods a wedgie so often. When I started in the newspaper bidness even a rookie at a small-town rag could get some first-class help from an experienced editor who had the will and the time to give the new kid some tips. In a few short years those windows of opportunity started closing, getting boarded over by the cold-type revolution and its related personnel cuts, and it was sink or swim, with all your ignorance and bad habits along for the ride.
June 17, 2022 at 9:30 am |
We too are wishin and hopin for rain. Our local mountain range, the Huachucas, has been spared from fire so far. The NWS folks give us a 40% chance today and a 70% chance tomorrow. We were a little warm and dry yesterday!
June 17, 2022 at 9:32 am |
A 40 to 70% chance of rain not fire. Duh.
June 17, 2022 at 9:44 am |
The gods keep teasing us, showing us a bit of cloud, then giggling and running away.
June 17, 2022 at 10:20 am |
We got some decent rain up here last night. Finally.
June 17, 2022 at 11:15 am |
We are getting drenched up here on the dryer side of the Cascades right now. “The roof gutters overflowith”. As a fair weather person that really dislikes riding in the rain, I am delighted to see the watershed addition.
Here’s to hoping that the jet stream takes some moisture in your direction.
June 17, 2022 at 12:48 pm |
The gods are grumbling up there. I can hear them. Fingers crossed. I should seal the deal by washing my car or taking the fenders off my bikes.
June 17, 2022 at 2:03 pm |
The gods are at the bowling alley up here right now. Sky looks darker to the south.
I had a new experience today. Was riding back into Fanta Se on Old Taos Highway and running into more and more of a headwind as the clouds moved in from south. So I get on the drops, put my head down, and pick up a few rpms.
Next thing you know, the bike is shaking like mad, I’m trying to keep the handlebars pointed down the road, and my goggles and eyes are being pelted with sand. Looked around me and discovered I had ridden right smack into one of those dust devils. Ahh, the joys of the southwest.
Got home and showered so much sand out of my hair I might as well have been at the beach. I guess there is something to be said for not having hair.
June 17, 2022 at 2:41 pm |
Yow. Sounds like fun. Maybe not. I got peppered with sand and gravel on the final descent to El Rancho Pendejo the other day, but it wasn’t a full-on dust devil, just a cantankerous blast of wind. Some people will pay good money for a skin peel like that.
June 17, 2022 at 2:47 pm |
Fortunately, it was just a little devil. I saw a picture in the Abq Journal a week or so ago of one of those little vortexes picking up and hurling a mattress around. That would have hurt.
June 17, 2022 at 8:18 pm |
Riding into a dust devil certainly wouldn’t be that fun. I’m sure of course that you relaxed as soon as you were captured and aided the oscillation shaking. I’m glad to hear that you and Toto exited out of the maelstrom paws and tires down.
I’ve had the fortune of not running across one (dust devil) yet. But I do recall a couple of times bombing down a couple of passes where the crosswinds hit me hard enough that my tailpipe constricted three sizes too small. Sometimes while riding in the wind taking the whole lane becomes necessary. You know things are real bad when taking the whole road is needed..
June 17, 2022 at 8:48 pm |
Happened pretty quickly. I’m just happy I didn’t have the deep V section rims on, or I probably would have ended up in the gravel on one side of the road or the other.
June 17, 2022 at 6:50 pm |
Good to see you Amigos still have a good sense of humor; albeit “dry” in many cases. 🙂
Here in the Bibleburg environs we’re seeing high temps and lots of smoke from the AZ wildfires.
Weekend forecast calls for a 40-50% chance of some moisture.
I typically remember (lived there a few times) the Tucson monsoons started shortly AFTER July 4th. Good luck PO’B!!
Here in COS, 2-3 weeks later.
Somewhat related to the headline editors, or whatever the correct term is: I see more and more “typos” in the big print than ever before in the COS Gazette. Remember, artificial intelligence is only as good as the human intelligence that programmed it. (But “spellcheck” corrected three of my errors and introduced two!!!)
Ride on…. rubber side down …. stay safe!
June 17, 2022 at 8:32 pm |
Thanks JD. We had a few sprinkles today but nothing measurable. They are predicting rain tonight and tomorrow, but I am like Patrick. Show me!
June 17, 2022 at 8:33 pm |
Who says there’s no such thing as good news? It’s raining. 0.01 inch by 8:30 p.m. We’ll take it.
June 18, 2022 at 12:28 am |
As they say someplace similarly hot and dry but now a bit cooler, Good On ya mate.
And don’t hesitate taking all you can get because I don’t think anybody in the desert SW is giving it away. Especially not the phoenix.
June 17, 2022 at 10:11 pm |
Speaking of weather … I tried to grab some fog. But i mist.
I’ll show myself out …
June 18, 2022 at 7:41 am |
Badaboom! Badabing! Hey, what is this, an audience or an oil painting? I know you’re out there — I can hear you breathing! But seriously, folks. …
June 18, 2022 at 8:09 am |