Lately, because I’m raising baby chicks over there, I’ve been going to Landlady’s place twice a day instead of the usual once. And while the Brahmas normally get fed in the afternoon, this time of year it’s not a good idea to assume that’s going to be possible. That’s because of this thing…
There are really two washes that snake back and forth through my stomping grounds, coming together down near D&L’s place. When both washes run at once, there can be quite a show down there. But nearer the canyons where I live, I only need to worry about this one.
During Monsoon you try to plan your activities so as not to find yourself on the wrong side when the ‘dry riverbed’ stops being dry. It tends to happen abruptly, and of course it’s not caused by rain that’s falling on you. This wash handles the runoff around here, of course, but that’s not where the flash floods come from. The floods come from the canyons upstream, which cut through a big plateau that can collect and reject a lot of water in a very short time. This time of year, you make sure your other-side-of-the-wash chores are done as early in the day as you can arrange, because it may not be possible later in the afternoon. Sometimes it’s only a babbling brook and sometimes it’s bank-to-bank and some feet deep, and pushing big rocks around. But it’s never the place you want to be when it happens.
And yes, people really do camp and park cars in flood plains and dry washes. Then they’re all surprised when bad things happen without phoning ahead for reservations.
Seriously, this is part of knowing your terrain. When it’s raining east of here or even when it only looks like it might, I treat the wash with the same respect I give an unfamiliar pit bull.
