Tumbleweeds

I’m not one of those guys who takes his camera with him everywhere he goes. But I sure wish I would have had my camera with me today (the small grab-shot one that also shoots video). Why, you ask? Coz it’s another one of those days here on The High Plains of New Mexico… which is to say steady wind of 30+ mph and gusts to 60 mph, if you believe The WX Channel. And I do, Gentle Reader… I most certainly DO.

I’ve been putting off the bi-weekly commissary run for a lot longer than I should and this morning I finally decided to get off the dime and head out to the base. I knew we were in for some wind today, but the forecast said it wasn’t gonna hit us until 1300 hrs or thereabouts. Well, my timing sucked. I really, truly intended on getting gone early on this morning but as Fate would have it (read as: I dallied waaay too long over coffee) I didn’t hit the road until 1130. And the front blew in early.

Oh, Goodie.

But… about the camera. Windshield video would have amazed and mystified you, Gentle Reader, had I had the presence of mind to take the camera along with me on the run out to the base and back. The tumbleweeds were just amazing today… literally hundreds of the danged things traveling across the highway at incredible speeds and getting some astounding air from time to time… like 20 feet or more. And there are literally thousands of the danged things stuck in the perimeter fence that encircles Cannon Airplane Patch. About which… I (ahem) shot the breeze briefly with one of the guys here in Beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park when I got home and he told me the t-weeds were SO bad they took down a length of the perimeter fence out at the base earlier today. I can believe it. The t-weeds are so thick at some points in the fence that you literally can NOT see through them. That’s a lot of tumbleweeds.

I also thought about going back out after I got home with the express intention of shooting a little bit of video for ya… but I didn’t. It’s just not nice out there at the moment.

A couple of shots of the t-weeds (a) along the back fence and (b) piled up next to my car-hauler. As always, click for larger.

Update: Kris, in comments, sez there's something romantic about tumbleweeds. Indeed. Here's a lil sumthin from my childhood on the subject:

How romantic is that, eh? I'd say "a lot." That's The Sons of the Pioneers singin' and playin' fer yew. They were BIG once upon a time.