The pronghorns are here because you’re not. We sat parked by the side of the road for for about ten minutes, watching. Not another car came by. That’s the way it is in northeast New Mexico. Being close to wild animals like this is such a privilege. It’s more than the beasts, though. I told my wife, “The air, the sunlight, the animals, everything—I just don’t want to leave!” And hoo boy, was it quiet…
I could sit around and worry about tomorrow, like that would fix a thing, imagining all the ugly stuff that may or may not happen growing older in a broken world that doesn’t seem to give a damn. I often have, of course. But sitting there beside the road, staring into the eyes of that wild energy in this time and space, the lie of separation dies. We used to live back East, where all the rest I needed lay right by my fingertips. Now here we are, where no one will take care of me, and everything but God is far away.
John Hamilton Farr lives at 7,000 feet in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. As New York Times best-selling author James C. Moore tells it, John is “a man attuned to the world who sees it differently than you and I and writes about it with a language and a vision of life that is impossible to ignore.” This JHFARR.COM site is the master writing archive. To email John, please see CONTACT INFO on .png)
You must log in to post a comment. Log in now.