On the path to where I saw the "Christmas Elk".

This was written in late December, 2006. We live in the Jemez Mountains of Northern New Mexico. I have been back for about 4 months since having my aorta valve exchanged for a fancy mechanical replacement in August. With my new valve, I am back to hiking about a mile up the large mesa behind us, to the spring that supplies our water. A few days ago, Barb and I rounded the last bend and ran into a magnificent bull elk standing near the spring. His rack had 12 points, and was at least 5 feet across. I judged his weight to be in excess of 650 pounds. He seemed very old and tired. He moved his huge frame behind a few trees, but they weren’t sufficient to hide such a magnificent animal. We quietly looked (I believe) into each other’s eyes from 50 yards away. I thought about the old battles he must have fought and won, the harems he had gathered and guarded, now a king soon to fall.

Late yesterday I went back to the spring, and the old monarch had gone down for the last time. I turned around and quietly departed. I guess it doesn’t make sense, but I had hoped he would make it past Christmas.

But life is complex. I saw a young mountain lion a few weeks ago. It is likely that close by were his sibling and mother. This great elk will probably provide a wonderful feast for the mountain lion and her two large cubs which claim a fifty mile range across our mountain. Perhaps a Christmas feast, if you care to use your imagination. What has the elk provided for me? That question might take a long time to fully answer. But I am going to draw my family closer than ever. I think I will enjoy the warm fire a little more. And I will try to remember that all of this is precious and temporal, God’s gift to each of us. I want to remember that the life we are given is not meant to be trivial. And each Christmas should be more precious than the last.