I was born and raised part of my young life in NE New Mexico. It was a drought that drove us out in 1952 when I was 5 years old. I remember it well.
On all my trips back to visit kin there it was always dry as a bone.
In 2013 we drove through there, and for the first time in my life I saw the area GREEN! I could not believe it!
In 2015 we made our last trip through there and it was still GREEN! Roads washed out, and we followed a big thunderstorm into Oklahoma.
If it had been that green in 1952 dad might have stayed.
My native grass is about 3.5 feet high, and I have wildflowers (some are types I’ve never seen before) that are reaching 5 feet high. There is a sunflower near the house with the blossom about a foot in diameter... I’ve never seen one that big in NM.