Earth Still Spins

tanjabrittonwriter 51 Comments

Some destinations exert a magnetic force, compelling us to return time and again. New Mexico’s Villanueva State Park is one such destination for me. Reachable only by a little-traveled county road, it is situated at the end of a fertile valley first frequented by Paleo-Indians and farmed in more recent centuries by Hispanic settlers, with water provided gratis by an early stretch of Pecos River, between its origin in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and its eventual destiny in Texas—the mighty Rio Grande.

During my most recent visit in late April, not only do I travel a distance of nearly 300 miles (480 kilometers) south, I also journey into a more advanced stage of spring, with budding or blossoming trees and shrubs, a few blooming wildflowers, and pleasing temperatures, conducive to sleeping in a tent. The park’s campground is hemmed in by towering walls of sandstone carved by the stream and clad with the juniper-pinyon community typical of vast expanses of the arid Southwest. Rocky trails lead to various overlooks with views that touch infinity. The rushing river, swelled by snowmelt in the highlands, provides constant background music, to which resident and early migratory birds add their joyful voices.

It is a place permeated by a sense of timelessness, even though I am swept up in its daily arc far more than at home: Up and down with the sun, active early in the morning and late in the afternoon, with decreased activity during the heat of the day, like many fellow critters. The more egregious and topsy-turvy the man-made world, the more I long to be reassured that the earth is still spinning around its axis, that flora and fauna still follow their age-old rhythms. We would do well to heed Mother Nature’s mostly patient and persistent, but recently more urgent, pointers that to ignore those rhythms is to do so at our peril and to our detriment.

To enlarge a photo, click on it. To read its caption, hover cursor over it.

My campsite
Pecos River
Bridge across the Pecos
Welcome
Hairy Woodpecker
Cliff Swallow nests, awaiting the return of their occupants
Bright as sunshine
Lilac blossoms
Old shed with lilac bush
Crabapple tree in bloom
Sunrise
Sunset over the Pecos
Moonrise over the sandstone cliffs
Full moon

51 thoughts on “Earth Still Spins”

  6. Liebe Tanja,
    Deine Fotos bieten mir immer eine feine Augenreise!
    Die anschmiegsame Nähe der Schwalbennester finde ich ganz besonders anrührend und wie kunstvoll sie “getöpfert” sind … 🙂
    Naturverbundene Grüße von Ulrike

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    • Es freut mich, daß Dir die Bilder gefallen, liebe Ulrike, und daß Dir die Schwalbennester aufgefallen sind. Diese wunderbaren Bauten bewundere ich bei jedem Besuch, aber bisher war ich entweder zu früh oder zu spät dort, um die Bewohner kennenzulernen. Irgendwann muß ich halt mal im Sommer hin, aber dann werde ich ganz viel im Schatten der großen Bäume sitzen und einige Bücher lesen. 📚

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  12. Oh, den Pecos River kenn ich! Da bin ich mal über eine riesige Brücke drübergefahren, allerdings in Texas! So schöne Bilder, besonders die alte Scheune gefällt mir!

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  16. It’s always nice to return to that more natural rhythm of the earth rather than have our days set by mechanical reminders. I also love how you journeyed “into spring.” What a wonderful journey this must have been.

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  17. Lovely, Tanja, in both image and word. I so appreciate your weaving of gentle reminders of what is at stake for us and our world with simple celebrations of wonder, wonder, everywhere.

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