The land where elks bugle

This is the time of year when the big elk start to gather their harems. Barb and I went to hear them this evening. All of this takes place in the high country twenty miles up the road from our place.

You don't hear the bugling until it gets close to dark. And this high in the mountains, cold comes along with the darkness. It is an erie sound in an erie place. It is a place, a sound, and an experience you will never forget.

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.