Home

I am so happy to be back in New Mexico’s desert. This isn’t Rock Springs but it is certainly the next best thing.

Right after I woke up today I sat in my open doorway and faced the eastern sun. Even though it was warm on my skin the early morning breeze was cold. The sky was blue and the mountains clear in the far distance. I could lift my eyes above the few scattered houses and imagine I was back in the vast emptiness I used to know.

And the quiet! Even here in this little subdivision of houses, it is very quiet. It is like the desert is a huge audio sponge. And sounds drop onto it with very little impact. Shouting children, noisy motors, barking dogs—none of them have the intensity that they do in the crowded East. They are just tiny drops plinking noiselessly into the vast pool of silence. You don’t realize what real silence is if you haven't experienced it in the desert.

I’ve come Home.

Oh yes, I know I live in Ohio for most of the year and all of my junk is there, but NM will always be my heart-home. Of all places on this earth, this is my favorite.