Weather: The ground is frozen a few inches down, while the surface is dry in open areas. My driveway gets spongy in the afternoon when the top layer of ice melts, but there’s no place for the water to go.
Last token snow: 1/3. Week’s low: 10 degrees F. Week’s high: 55 degrees F in the shade. Winds were up to 26 mph in Santa Fé on Friday.
What’s still green: Needles on pines and junipers; leaves on cliff rose, yuccas, alfilerillo, coral bells, coral beard tongues, favored Dutch clover; bases of blue flax and Mexican hats; new growth on a hollyhock
What’s still gray or gray-green: Leaf buds on winterfat, snow-in-summer
What’s turning purple or red: Stems on some roses; sprouts on apricot; twigs on peaches, and spirea
What’s turned yellow: Branches on weeping willows
Animal sightings: I saw red cattle behind one house in the lowlands near the river.
Tasks: People have been burning weeds along fence lines and in bare areas of their yards.
Weekly update: I noticed more dogs out in yards this week. They came running to their fences when I pulled my car over to make notes. Since there are few places that are safe, the wider areas may be used by others. I’m sure I haven’t seen some of these dogs before.
Large dogs were not part of my childhood in a small town. They were on Lassie and Rin Tin Tin. Only one family in my neighborhood had large dogs: a pair of boxers. The rest, if they had pets, were cocker spaniels, dachshunds, terriers, or other relatively small canines. The craze for pets had not yet reached our area where money was tight when families had three or four children.
Big dogs are a rural tradition. Few, here, actually are trained. Most are left to their own devices.
I rarely see people out walking their dogs, and don’t remember ever seeing them spending time with them. Some near me have been starved for affection. It would take nothing for a would-be thief to win them over with a few kind words and some belly rubs. In fact, that is how one man told me he lost his animal.
Animals provide an easy way to maintain a yard. They might scare rabbits and other critters into the yards of those without dogs. However, the ones I’ve seen are just as inclined to ignore them. One woman told me her current dog cleared out the ground squirrels, but that the previous one left them alone.
Owners never show much interest in their barking. If they hear it at all, over the sounds of televisions, furnaces, and air conditioners, the noise reassures them that they are safe.
When one of my neighbor’s dogs was making such a prolonged racket some years ago, I finally went to investigate. A loose horse was running around the outside of his fence, teasing his penned horses. While I was watching a visiting boy also came out to look. Then, and only then, did the man go out to protect his animals.
The farther one lives away from town, the more one needs an animal patrol. The only person I’ve known who checked out why his animals were making a racket lived far north of town. He found bear tracks the next morning.
I often hear reports of wild animals drawn to Los Alamos and Chimayó, especially when food is scarce. I actually had a potential contractor ask me this fall if we had wild cats here. I pointed out to him, there was a major road and a river between the badlands and here, with a great many more enticing places if one actually came down a thousand feet from Los Alamos.
The question was the result of hearing rumors in Los Alamos and not being familiar with the outdoors.
Closer to town, the homeless are a problem when they break into vacant buildings and start fires to keep warm. They rarely walk or hitch rides two or three miles into the countryside.
Gangs or vandals are definitely problems, especially closer to town. One knows they exist from the graffiti on walls and the signs for neighborhood patrols. One place that just brought in three dogs is in an area I know has had problems with theft. A vigilant neighbor once came up to demand why I had stopped by the road. When I convinced him I was harmless, he explained the local situation.
But, I still wonder why are so many getting dogs this month. Fear spreads on itself. Exaggerated reports of crimes on television and the internet feed anxieties.
Despite how this post may sound, I’m not against my neighbors’ large dogs. I realize they keep coyotes away from the settled areas, even if they do not scare off smaller animals. Stray or wandering cats are more useful against rodents and snakes.
I take pictures of dogs when I’m out walking if they seem threatening or are loose. It’s a precaution in case they attack, and I need to identify the animal. Other people get spooked by loose animals and call the authorities. I suspect most are new to life on the boundary between town and country, and don’t understand local customs.
One thing I noticed is that owning large dogs in my immediate area follows two patterns. People who just move here often get an animal, either because they have always wanted one, or because they heard they “ought” to have one. Few of these animals are around a year or so later. Keeping an animal is a chore, no matter how little one does.
Then, there seem to be times when people have been afraid for some reason, and then, when their fears pass, so do the animals.
Only a few people seem to keep animals for many years. They are what one would call “dog people,” individuals who want the beasts for deeper reasons than rumors.
It would be helpful to know if people who have been getting dogs this month have a specific reason or if they are reacting from generalized fear or, possibly, just following a fad like the one for tiny dogs spread by commercials and celebrities.
Notes on photographs:
1. Unknown dog loose by the road, 1 November 2013. This is the type I photograph “just in case.”
2. This neighbor let his dogs run loose, and other neighbors were always complaining. The one on the right was a sweet dog who would do anything for attention. I never trusted the one of the left. She set the others up to harass people. Unfortunately, someone shot the sweet one. This was taken 13 February 2011.
3. There’s more than one reason people get dogs. This was one of four animals that guarded the yard of someone I suspected of being a drug dealer; 11 January 2012.
4. This is the only truly vicious dog I’ve seen in the area. The girl friend of the owner told me it nearly killed one of her daughters, and that they they saved it from being put down. They had to keep it on a chain. The owner eventually was evicted. I don’t know what happened to the animal. Picture taken 11 January 2011.
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