Ever since "When will Armijo Springs camp ground get some rain this summer?" became a nagging question earlier this year, I've been increasingly curious about it.

I haven't kept records during the nine years that I've lived here, but my recollection is that the monsoon has begun in July more often than later.

So yesterday, I had Rick freight me over to the USFS ranger station (just across the street, but a journey for this ol' relic) to see what data I might get from the fire guy over there.

The Forest Service has obviously become much more of a bureaucracy than it was when I wore the green in the 1950s and 1960. What used to be simple records are now bales of paper and banks of file cabinets � mountains of virtually indecipherable minuti�. So much, in fact, that the district's kept records go back only four years (I wanted precipitation data for July over the years 2000�2013, or at least the last ten years � simple data in the old days.)

Interestingly, the data for the last four years show rainfall somewhere or other in the Quemado district every year.

When it comes to rainfall, this area is like a checker board, with the red squares stone-dry while the black squares soak and drip. I vividly remember the day a few summers ago when my front walk was as dry as my living-room floor, and seventy-five yards away, next-door, heavy rain was soaking the ground at the veterans' hall.

Oh, yes � almost forgot � data from the ranger station � somewhere or other in the district �
2010 � July 2.72 in. � August 3.35 in.
2011 � July 1.69 in. � August 2.99 in.
2012 � July 1.84 in. � August 2.40 in.
2013 � July 3.30 in. � August 2.58 in.

So � remembering the checker board � will we get rain at Armijo Springs this August? Somewhere close, for sure! Bring rain gear, "jes' in case!"


"Good enough" isn't.

Always take your responsibilities seriously but never yourself.