Let it snow....
That's right, it's snowing, again! We woke up this morning to 6 inches of snow and it has snowed all day. The temperature has dropped to 20 degrees and there have been around 25 accidents on I40. That doesn't include the ones in town and on the other roads leading out of Gallup. It is supposed to keep doing this through late Monday. I thought Gallup was a desert, well I guess it's really high desert, but darn it's cold.
Last Monday evening I was called for a Search and Rescue mission. Actually I was called for 2, but I can only do one at a time so another guy took one of them. It had started snowing about 5 p.m. and the gentleman I was in charge of looking for had gone out in the morning to pick pinon nuts (pine nuts). They are selling for about $15.00 a pound in Albuquerque. This was the 5th search for a pinon picker that I've had in the last month. Three of them found their own way out, but 2 days before Halloween, it was snowing and caught a woman off guard and she spent a cold, wet night in the boonies until we found her at 5:30 in the morning.
This search, it was snowing and blowing like crazy. Visibility was about 10 ft. We had a bonfire going, but you couldn't see it until you were almost stepping in it. We looked during the night, but it was pretty fruitless because of the lack of visibility. So at first light, I had 3 teams in the field looking for any kind of sign. The state policeman who stays with us during searches went back down to the main road to direct the dog team and other teams to where we were. As he pulled onto the main road, he saw an older man walking down the road and asked him what his name was. It was our guy. He was a smoker and had built a fire and stayed warm, then started walking when it got light. He was pretty funny. He wasn't hurt, just a little cold and his only complaint was that he wanted to ride in the helicopter. So, all's well that ends well. I was worried that we wouldn't find this guy alive so was very grateful that he was okay.
Anyway, this is the third snow storm of the season and it's not even winter yet. We need the moisture, but the black ice we could do without. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and made it home safe and sound.
Our Lady stands guard over us even through the worst storms. Thank God for Her intercession.
Last Monday evening I was called for a Search and Rescue mission. Actually I was called for 2, but I can only do one at a time so another guy took one of them. It had started snowing about 5 p.m. and the gentleman I was in charge of looking for had gone out in the morning to pick pinon nuts (pine nuts). They are selling for about $15.00 a pound in Albuquerque. This was the 5th search for a pinon picker that I've had in the last month. Three of them found their own way out, but 2 days before Halloween, it was snowing and caught a woman off guard and she spent a cold, wet night in the boonies until we found her at 5:30 in the morning.
This search, it was snowing and blowing like crazy. Visibility was about 10 ft. We had a bonfire going, but you couldn't see it until you were almost stepping in it. We looked during the night, but it was pretty fruitless because of the lack of visibility. So at first light, I had 3 teams in the field looking for any kind of sign. The state policeman who stays with us during searches went back down to the main road to direct the dog team and other teams to where we were. As he pulled onto the main road, he saw an older man walking down the road and asked him what his name was. It was our guy. He was a smoker and had built a fire and stayed warm, then started walking when it got light. He was pretty funny. He wasn't hurt, just a little cold and his only complaint was that he wanted to ride in the helicopter. So, all's well that ends well. I was worried that we wouldn't find this guy alive so was very grateful that he was okay.
Anyway, this is the third snow storm of the season and it's not even winter yet. We need the moisture, but the black ice we could do without. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and made it home safe and sound.
Our Lady stands guard over us even through the worst storms. Thank God for Her intercession.
posted by Kitty at 8:18 PM
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