October 8, 2013
| Saturday’s High | 70 | ||
| Saturday’s Low | 44 | ||
| Days in Las Cruces | 106 | ||
| Steps/Miles walked Monday | 9702 | 4.58 | |
| Steps/Miles walked | 772,888 | 386.0 |
Monday, I got the oil changed in the Buick, then took the car to be washed, and finished by topping off the gas tank. As I’ve mentioned earlier, these blogs are written the day before, then scheduled for release at 5:00 am in the morning. If all goes well today, Scott and I were up well before dawn, and on the road by 5:00 am.
We’re driving up to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the National Cemetery there. Today, Uncle Lew Shields is being interred.
Today’s topic, however, is informed by one of the questions my brother asked me last week. He asked one thing… and I decided to write about something related.
Las Cruces lies at the convergence of ancient trade routes, along the Rio Grande del Norte. The Mesilla Valley of the Rio Grande extends from Hatch, home of the Hatch Chile, to the western side of El Paso. I have seen this area referred to as an oasis. For all of this area lies in the Chihuahuan Desert.
One of the fascinating facts that I learned last Saturday at the El Paso Museum of History is that this desert was lushly forested around 10000 years ago. As the world climate changed following the end of the last Ice Age, this area also changed with it. But what fascinated me was that the arrival of Europeans actually accelerated that process.
So, BBMO asked for the meteorological causes of cool nights and hot days in New Mexico. I did a little research.
Why are desert days hot? By their nature, deserts are arid, meaning not a lot of water! During the day, all of the sunlight is absorbed into the ground, raising it’s temperature. If water were present, that heat would be dissipated by the evaporation of some of that water. That evaporation would in turn cause some degree of cooling.
Why are desert night cold? For much the same reason as the hot days. There is little moisture in the air to retain heat. Thus when the sun sets, with no moisture to hold the heat, the air cools almost immediately. Clear, cloudless skies also help to quickly release heat at night.
And WHY is the Chihuahuan Desert even HERE? The Chihuahuan is usually called a rain shadow desert. That is because two massive mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre Occidental on the west and the Sierra Madre Oriental on the east, border the Mexican portion of the Chihuahuan. These mountains block most of the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean from reaching the land, and are the main reason that this desert developed. See: http://ddl.nmsu.edu/chihuahua.html
Daily Gratitude
Today, as I was returning with the girls from our second walk to the dog green, I passed by the ball court, as one must to get from the green to our house. At the north end of the cour is a crushed granite path to the Bocci Ball court.
Looking down at the path, I noticed tire tracks in the gravel. And, as is wont to happen from time to time, my thought process took me from those tire tracks to the fact that they were caused by one of the golf carts in the park, which magically transported me 45 or more years into the past, to a time when the Strom Family and the Whalen Family spent several weeks each summer at Walther League Camp in Lake Okoboji, Iowa.
There was a man there, I do not recall his name after so many years, who was the grounds-keeper I believe, and possibly a manager of the facility as well. He would drive around in a gas powered golf cart. We’d see him daily, and he always treated us like very special friends.
I know this man was a good friend of my grandpa Yates, my mom’s father. And this thought process, from bocci ball, to tire tracks, to golf cart, to Okoboji, to my grandfather brought to mind that for which I am grateful today.
Today, I am grateful for all those who have come before me in my family, but especially for my Grandma and Grandpa Yates, for Grandma Strom, for Uncle Wendell Whalen, for Aunt Regina Strom, Aunt Myrna Madelen, Uncle Lew; for my Great Aunts & Uncles, Ebbie, Pat, Goldie, Edna, Bob & Sue, all on my Mom’s side of the family. Uncle Ed, Aunt Minnie, Aunt Millie and so many others on my Dad’s.
Every single one of these were loved and cherished relatives, each of whom played an important part in my becoming who I am today. I do not wish to go into how each individual impacted my life. Let it just suffice to say that there are elements of the character of each that I feel have in some way sustained or informed me as who I am.
As I walked this morning, each of those named came to my mind. I pictured them either from memories I have, or as I see them in old photos. I said “Thank you for having loved me” to each. I also told them all that there is a part of me that cannot wait to see them all again.
Even the old gentleman in his golf cart on the shores of Okoboji… some day.
Some day.
Prayer Intention
“If the only prayer you say in your life is “thank you,” that would suffice.”
–Meister Eckhart
Gratitude continues to be the focus of my prayer this week.
On The Road II 