sacred

A Knock on the Door

New Mexico sunset

Claim it, chilluns

“I come from the mountain,” he said, and growled. This was no game, however, but serious shaman voodoo meant to jolt me. I knew the mountain, too. “Do you know how many people I’ve taken out there?” he asked. “Just you,” he said.”You’re the only one.” We talked a long time. The rest of this [...]

Nature Shock

Looking west from Llano Quemado

The neighborhood today

I couldn’t possibly make the left turn with a big red wrecker truck hanging on my bumper at sixy miles an hour, so I drove another half mile to where I had a turn lane, circled right back to the highway—empty now, thank God—and cruised toward town until I found the place again. There was [...]

Buffalo Gift

buffalo east of Cimarron

Wet shiny noses under cloudy sky

See if you can pick out the males. They weigh twice as much (2,000 pounds!) and have bigger humps. Keep in mind these animals can run at forty miles per hour, too, then imagine Native warriors chasing them down on horseback with lances or bows and arrows—and on foot for centuries before Spanish horses ran [...]

Bighorns By the River

bighorn sheep, female

What a privilege to be here

We were driving along the Rio Grande a few miles north of Pilar at the southern end of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument when we spotted about a dozen female bighorn sheep in two separate groups, one of which was moving down toward the river to drink. After parking in a day use [...]

Rift Valley Afternoon

Rio Grande del Norte National Monument

Every mountain in this view is an extinct volcano (we hope)

Yes, it’s that view again. Why not? It’s different every time, and yesterday was perfect. I don’t have much to say right now, just look at this. That’s the gorge of the Rio Pueblo in the foreground, with the larger and deeper Rio Grande Gorge behind it. The tectonic plate on the other side thinks [...]

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