After the Rain

02002-07-30 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

It is amazing how the desert explodes after the first big rain. The smell of the moisture hitting the dust is wonderful, sweet and almost overwhelming. Grass grows out of the dust, cottonwood seeds from the spring suddenly produce 3 feet tall seedlings within a few days.

With the first Summer rain the Siberian Elm seedlings also arrive. It seems that in a dry year the Siberian Elm produces even more seeds than usual. I have already pulled out hundreds of little elms this week alone. Some people hire companies who use huge vaccum cleaners to vacuum up the elm seeds in the yards….

The first Siberian Elms were planted in Santa Fe during the depression to control soil erosion that was happening because people were cutting down piÃ’on trees for firewood. Now it is illegal to plant Siberian Elm trees, but there are thousands in Santa Fe already.

I have lived in Santa Fe for over 16 years and it still amazes me that it can hail at the end of July. Today an afternoon thunderstorm started with heavy rain, then turned to pea-sized hail and then went back to hail wiith sunshine. The landscape looked looked hyper-real with the sunshine lighting up the land under the clouds….

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives

Images

Concert Dates

Tue, Feb 11 2025 in Solana Beach, CA
@ Belly Up

Thu, Feb 13 2025 in Fontana, CA
@ Stage Red

Sat, Feb 15 2025 in Agoura Hills, CA
@ The Canyon Club

Sun, Feb 16 2025 in Santa Barbara, CA
@ Soho

Mon, Feb 17 2025 in Santa Cruz, CA
@ Rio Theater

Tue, Feb 18 2025 in Oakland, CA
@ Yoshi’s

Wed, Feb 19 2025 in Oakland, CA
@ Yoshi’s

Social

@Mastodon (the Un-Twitter)