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 | Oct 3, 2023 | animals, lifestyle, nature, ranch life, Uncategorized, wildlife
Thunk! As the piñon jay hit the window;I heard it from the greenhouse not far away,and as I looked, albeit with a bit of trepidation,I saw the creature from behind, dazed of course,trying to get her bearings, and in two beatsof a heart, she toppled to her side; Now I...
by Bela Johnson | Mar 24, 2023 | desert life, high desert, nature, Uncategorized, wildlife
Today I saw a mountain lion, absentwas my phone or camera, and I might nothave thought of those anyway, rapture beingthe single emotion that leapt in my heart; She was hunkered close to the ground,casting the dogs and me a backward glancewith a twitch of her long,...
by Bela Johnson | Jan 25, 2023 | country living, lifestyle, nature, perspective, Uncategorized, wildlife
The fox in her den does not involve herselfin human games, world domination,current events certain humans considerimportant, no, her expert nose is not trainedon our inane ramblings, mental meanderings,baseless strivings, she is unconcernedwith naught but survival, an...
by Bela Johnson | Dec 19, 2022 | lifestyle, Maine, nature, perspective, Uncategorized, wildlife
Somewhere there are sheets of blue icestitching up the last of the open water,but I am not there, only memory servesto dish up that young woman in hernew figure skates, striking outover the frozen pond, what those livingin worlds of water call a small lake,and Boom!...
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...
