by Bela Johnson | Oct 10, 2025 | animals, Maine, nature, New Mexico, silence, Uncategorized, wildlife
I lived four years in the high desert mountainsof New Mexico, the ranch house ringedby variegated greens of piñon pine,cedar and Ponderosa, and beyond the forestlay fields of sage, their silver-gray shimmerunbroken but for wind, the dark shadowsof ravens, and the...
by Bela Johnson | Apr 19, 2023 | high desert, lifestyle, nature, New Mexico, perspective, Uncategorized
Here in the mountains night creatures roam, day has notyet stretched rays of sunlight over the land, birds are stilltucked tightly into tree branches, tiny beaks buried in fluffybreast down, eyes closed as they breathe in rhythmstoo subtle to notice, dreaming dreams...
by Bela Johnson | Dec 16, 2022 | high desert, lifestyle, nature, New Mexico, wildlife
Below zero, as indigo wings flap madly,honing in on empty feeders, and we arisewith the wonder that any warm bloodedcreature can survive, urged now to provisionsmall bellies dependent on habits that mustbe sustained, having begun this particular dancewhen we arrived...
by Bela Johnson | Aug 10, 2021 | high desert, lifestyle, nature, New Mexico, perspective, Uncategorized
When first I arrived ahead of him,to put this new house in orderwhile he remained in Hawaii,finishing up what needed donein that place we had residedfor fifteen years, it was chaotic; Covid had created seeds of disorderthat have now germinatedand sprouted into some...
by Bela Johnson | Apr 12, 2021 | desert life, lifestyle, nature, New Mexico, Uncategorized
I had a poem queued up to post; it has been awhile and I am just now getting back to writing after months of settling into our new digs. And then things transpired that I wanted to share with you, dear readers. We bought this ranch last July in the midst of Covid, and...
