Summer’s start brings mixed blessings

Have those “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” morphed into days that are too hot to really enjoy, days behind closed doors with the air conditioner keeping things cool? It has been really hot, too hot for most of us.

These are not the kind of days where people rejoice in the great outdoors and cheer because winter is gone. These are the days when we dread getting into a car with a steering wheel too hot to touch and when sitting outside is sometimes more tortuous than enjoyable.

Now we know we shouldn’t complain as people in Phoenix and Tucson have it much worse, but we have a hard time caring when we’re so hot here with our 100-degree temperatures. It feels a bit like we’ve had some kind of convergence this week with extremely hot days, the literal beginning of summer and fires flaring up a little closer to home than we like.

We imagine the swimming pools are crowded with children and adults enjoying the cool water, but we wonder if those parents sitting around the pool watching their children aren’t miserably hot. We don’t worry so much about the children playing outside, because it doesn’t seem like many are enjoying the great outdoors. It’s probably just too hot.

There is no question that summer is here, and summer in New Mexico also brings fires.

The wildfires we track every year are tragic — tragic for our wilderness areas and the plants and animals that thrive there, and tragic for the people whose lives are impacted so greatly. We watch in awe as the brave firefighters and first-responders battle with nature at its most fierce.

However, it is so much worse when the fires are practically in our backyard. To many of us here, the Jemez area is one of our favorite places to camp, picnic and just enjoy the scenery. When there is a fire in the Jemez, we take it personally and remember the devastation caused by previous fires. We pray for the people whose homes are threatened annually.

So, this past weekend, we not only had a fire in the Jemez to worry about, we also had a 1,200-acre fire on the west side of Rio Rancho. That was really getting close to home. Luckily both fires were contained without a lot of damage and no loss of life, but we know those won’t be the only fires the state has to deal with this year. Again, we applaud the firefighters for their heroic efforts to keep us and our lands safe.

We can say one thing for sure; between the fires and the excruciating heat, people aren’t talking so much about what is going on in Washington D.C. So, even if we’re not getting a break from the weather, we’re getting a break from political talk.

On another note, we want to congratulate A Park Above on its first anniversary. This special park has brought so much to the city: It’s an amazing place that celebrates the abilities of all people and capitalizes on our imaginations, but it is also an example of what regular, extraordinary citizens can accomplish when they have a dream. Congratulations. We love A Park Above, and so do all the children we know.