If it's you, I want you to quit it. Tláloc does NOT appear to be happy.
Don't get me wrong, rain and green grass are much nicer than wildfires and evacuations, but honestly! Could we get a bit of a break here?
Friday a.m., we woke up to thunderstorms and rain. I don't know what on earth our hay delivery guy was thinking, but he drove up from Santa Fe in an open flatbed trailer without a tarp or other covering, and seemed surprised when I told him to just turn around and drive that soaking wet hay back down the hill, because I wasn't going to feed it to the horses. We were down to a total of 6 bales of hay for the guys, which isn't even a week's worth, so we told the hay guy we'd plan on coming down to Santa Fe with our horse trailer on Sunday, since it's obviously covered, but it means we could only get 55 or so bales, and not the 120 we ordered. The skies cleared up enough by mid-afternoon, when I was done with work that Bhen and I went out and trotted a quick 7 miles or so.
Saturday a.m., having finally gotten my new saddle, D and spent a couple of hours working on adjustments for it. Pesky little things like the length of the stirrup leathers. D is 6 feet tall. I am 5'4". Do you think there's an issue when HE can't reach the stirrups, even when they are shortened as far as they will go? We wound up having to drill a bunch of extra holes in the leather, and then cut off over a foot of excess before I could use them. Anyway, we finally got that squared away, and dashed off to the horse park so I could try the saddle on Bhen and actually ride in it. We did a tour of the round pen, at the walk and the trot, and made a few more adjustments and I decided I would head out for a quick ride to try it out further, but realized how quickly the black clouds had started to build, and noticed - eek - lightning, so we turned around and headed back to the lot and I got him untacked and back in the barn before the worst of the downpour started.
Sunday, it was raining when we got up. It had started to clear by about 8:00, so we took a chance, got the trailer, and headed down to Santa Fe. The weather held for the trip down and back, but as we unloaded the last of the bales into storage at the horse park, the first drops of rain started. We initially thought it would clear up, and I had plans to .... you guessed it.... ride again..... but the sky started to look like this:
And within a few minutes, there was a downpour so heavy, the gutters were having trouble managing the amount of water. And then the hail started, first pea-sized, and then grape-sized. It was enough to leave the front yard looking like winter in July.
I was really happy I was at home, and not out on the mesa-top on Bhen, trying to navigate thru all that and not get drenched and/or electrocuted.
He and I are supposed to head out to Ft. Stanton to ride in another 2 weeks. So could whoever is sacrificing chickens or virgins or whatever is causing all this rain please cease and desist? Please?
All for now...
His English relatives must be in much the same mood as we are being treated to rain. Nothing horrendous but, as Muttley has decided he wants to be a rodeo pony, I am using the rain as a good excuse to stay home today. Finally started on planning my 1000 miles of rides so not a totally wasted day!
Fingers crossed your weather improves rapidly.
Posted by: Bea | July 06, 2009 at 03:42 AM
Holy Craparoni! We have finally seen the end of the rain and now the heat's moving in. Be careful what you wish for.
Posted by: margene | July 06, 2009 at 05:19 AM
Looks like snow! Yikes!!!!
Posted by: Christina Scovel | July 06, 2009 at 07:39 AM
Maybe you could just send the rain back where it belongs - we've had an extremely dry May and June up here in the NW. You KNOW it's been dry here when people start saying, "I wish it would rain." (not that it's anything remotely similar to dry in the desert)
Posted by: Toby | July 06, 2009 at 09:04 AM
Um...sorry about that...been playing with the rattle Cyndy made me. It works really well for rain.
Um. But it sounds sooooo wonderful.
Posted by: Cathy | July 06, 2009 at 09:10 AM
We have just FINALLY (fingers crossed) pulled out of a pattern like that here....weeks and weeks of nothing but rain! Everything is rotting and getting diseased, it's been so wet. Tempers have been a bit on the short side, too! When it finally gets back to normal, you should plan on at least three of the most gorgeous days you've ever seen! Glad you got your new saddle, though. (I got something new over the weekend, too, but it's not discussable on blogs!)
Posted by: Marcia | July 06, 2009 at 09:33 AM
You are really getting some severe weather! It isn't me, I promise. I wouldn't want that hail completely destroying my garden, which has happened in mid-July in the past. So glad to hear you finally got the custom saddle - want to see pictures!
Posted by: Birdsong | July 06, 2009 at 09:53 AM
Hopefully your weather pattern will change soon....like Marcia said, it finally seems to have pulled away from the Northeast.
Posted by: Kim | July 06, 2009 at 12:31 PM
apparently, the explanation (if you ask the resident weather man, here) is El Nino. so you can blame that.
and these guys say so, too.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.pdf
Posted by: lori | July 06, 2009 at 03:39 PM
We're finally getting a break from all of the rain - hope you do too, soon. Hope you like your new saddle whenever you get to give it a real tryout!
Posted by: Cheryl S. | July 06, 2009 at 03:58 PM
Well.... I tried to tell Cathy that she shouldn't play with that rattle! (only bring it out when needed) ...but you know how it is when you get a new toy...
those skies really look angry!
Posted by: cyndy | July 06, 2009 at 06:37 PM
I feel your pain. We've had weeks of rain and I didin't know what the heck to do with the sun shining down on me today. I got all scared and hid inside...
Posted by: Sheepish Annie | July 06, 2009 at 08:07 PM
Oh yeah, we'll take all those bales of wet and get the horses full of mold. Sheesh.
Posted by: marylou | July 07, 2009 at 07:37 AM
Wow! Sounds like you've had an eventful time of it! Don't blame you about the hay...I wouldn't have wanted it either. And I'm happy to hear that you've a new saddle, and I hope you enjoy it!
Posted by: Kristin | July 08, 2009 at 08:08 AM
We are still a soggy rainy mess here in NH. It is trying everyone's spirits not to mention the summer disappearing with no sunshine. We still haven't gotten any more hay since late May. It has rained every day or every other since then.
Posted by: Nancy | July 08, 2009 at 09:06 AM