From the Center of the World

Taos Mountain in the clouds

The mountain at 1:09 p.m.

No, not Taos, you ninny! Taos is just a place. Haven’t you been paying attention? Now everybody just stay calm. There is much to report!

I am raising giant rodents. Ten minutes after putting out bird food, there’s a two-foot squirrel standing straight up on its hind legs with cheeks puffed out like tennis balls and all the seeds are gone. The jays and such have a window of opportunity, but it’s small. Speaking of birds, we have scrub jays, piñon jays, towhees, magpies, doves, chickadees, nuthatches, robins, ravens, buzzards, flycatchers, nighthawks, finches, swallows, flickers, woodpeckers, starlings, hawks, and hummingbirds. Just now, I mean. Some desert they got going here.

We have a new toilet, but you already knew that. It continues to astonish because it works. It is also very small and cute. I want to take it with us when we move. The other day I checked out a house for rent on Craigslist and realized it wouldn’t have our toilet! The septic tank works now, too. Right there you have a mighty bar to cross.

I haven’t built a fire since way back in June. If that sounds strange, you better stay away. Coming up is three whole armloads of chopped piñon, each as much as I can carry at one time, every single day. Beyond a doubt the most satisfying heat there is. Also ashes and ice, checking the stove, “I think I smell smoke,” fixing the damper, knocking out the soot, and vacuuming the floor. And HAULING OUT THE RACKS TO DRY THE LAUNDRY!

Dryer trumps toilet. Pray for birds. Back to the ads.

»Buy This Photo!«

Sign up for email delivery of JHFARR.COM posts via Substack! Same content sooner with bigger photos! ⬇︎

John Hamilton Farr lives at 7,000 feet in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. As New York Times best-selling author James C. Moore tells it, John is “a man attuned to the world who sees it differently than you and I and writes about it with a language and a vision of life that is impossible to ignore.” This JHFARR.COM site is the master writing archive. To email John, please see CONTACT INFO on About page. For a complete list of all John’s writing, photography, NFTs, and social media links, please visit JHFARR.ART  

Previous post:

Next post:

Browse ARCHIVES

Browse CATEGORIES

Latest Posts

Discover more from JHFARR.COM

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading