It Didn’t Happen

Weather: It rained a little Thursday and has misted all day today.

Last useful rain: 12/8. Week’s low: 17 degrees F. Week’s high: 53 degrees F in the shade.

What’s green: Leaves on juniper and other evergreens, cliff rose, yuccas, red hot poker, chives, grape hyacinth, bouncing Bess, pink evening primroses, golden spur columbine, snapdragons, alfilerillo, blue flax, hollyhock, vinca, violets, sweet peas, coral bells, Queen Anne’s lace, Shasta daisy, anthemis, white and yellow yarrow, purple aster, cheat grass; bases of needle grass; rose canes

What’s gray or gray-green: Leaves on snow-in-summer, catmint

What’s red or purple: Leaves on coral beard tongues

Tasks: The window of time that’s convenient and warm enough to work outside is shrinking as we approach the equinox. I got out one afternoon and cut some winterfat branches; they didn’t seem like they were dormant yet.

Animal sightings: Small birds. The rabbit used the snow-covered graveled path before I went out late Friday morning. The ground squirrel has dug a hole under a block I laid in a path this summer.

Weekly update: It snowed hard the day before Thanksgiving. I think at least 3" accumulated here. The Jémez, including Tchicoma were white from top to bottom.

Then, it started to rain, and by late Thursday, it was like it never happened. Trees in the mountains again dotted the snow.

The ground froze a little so I couldn’t open the gate again. This time, it was in a different place. The area that I cleared last spring was fine, but now an area up hill heaved. It was one of those problems one doesn’t discover until the first problem is fixed. Then, it’s like the repair never happened.

The ground hasn’t really frozen, and so it was possible to kick off enough dirt for the gate to clear. But, since I don’t know when the ground will harden, I’m still leaving my car outside.

Frozen ground seems to be more complex than I thought. All one ever reads is that, to be safe, water and irrigation pipes must be buried. The depth depends on the part of the country. And, I suspect all any contractor or plumber knows is the magic number. The process doesn’t matter.

Last year when it rained in January the water couldn’t sink into the ground because the ground was frozen. Then it was after a month of cold mornings.

This year, while the mornings have been cold since the end of October, the ground was so dry no water could freeze. Since that snow, the morning temperatures often have been above 20 degrees. That apparently was not enough to freeze more than the top layer that blocked the gate. As soon as the day warmed into the 40s, the snow could melt and sink into the still absorbent ground.

At least, so far, the gravel I was able to dump before the snow has been sufficient to keep the path by the house from flooding in the rain or turning to mud.

The path I extended at the far end of the property, however, has been attacked by the ground squirrel. For reasons not clear it dug a hole under one of the blocks, weakening it so it can’t be used. Perhaps its warmer under the block or safer from predators.

I thought, since it seemed to have moved under a shed in my neighbor’s yard, that I was safe from its depredations. That too was only a chimera.

Notes on photographs: All taken 8 December 2019.
1. Fruit on flowering crab apple.
2. Berry on one-seeded juniper (Juniperus monosperma).
3. Fruit of Cheyenne privet (Ligustrum vulgare).