When we first moved to New Mexico and lived in an isolated mountain village (see the book), the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. But when I say that, I realize I’m referring to the relative absence of man-made sounds.
There was almost always at least a little wind whispering in the Ponderosa pines, sometimes a lot. We heard screaming hawks and trumpeting elk. And coyotes, of course. Plenty of coyotes. The bear in the front yard didn’t make a sound, but the hummingbirds sure did. It was out on a walk where you really noticed it, the stillness and the quiet. There were other natural sounds — a creek in the valley below, odd snorts and distant yawps you couldn’t identify, plenty of jays — but this was of a piece. There was unity.
Tres Orejas: my favorite volcano
Our thoughts make things unquiet. Up there by Lobo Peak, there were hardly any humans to upset the presence you felt on a walk up the valley. Once we came upon an elk fawn curled up in a bed of ferns at the edge of the woods. We nearly tripped over the animal, in fact, because it was lying so perfectly still and quiet. The two of us stood for the longest moment about 15 feet away, not daring to move. The fawn was like a statue. Suddenly it dawned on me that momma elk had to be close by and might not appreciate the depth of our respect, so I spoke something quietly to Kathy, and on we went. (Those things are big, chilluns.) The fawn never even wiggled an ear.
When we lived back East, across the bay from Baltimore, there were deer and foxes in the corn, but I could feel the megalopolis, I swear. The pressure of all that concentrated thought and emotion was something real. There’s a good side to this, the “stuff is goin’ ON” vibe, and some folks can’t live without it. Out here what goes on is the stuff that comes out of the mountains and roars through your bones. It’s primeval. It’s bigger than the sun. It comes from the oneness of all living things. It eats “city vibes” for breakfast and makes it easier for things to grow. All kinds of things, different things.
Stuff we need.
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