The Quiet Time of the Year

Although winter has never been my favorite season, there is something to say about this phase of winter in Northern New Mexico: it’s quiet, especially in the rural areas just outside Taos.

Sometimes the days are crispy cold with a glorious clear blue sky, some days are almost spring-like in temperature, and sometimes we get one of those really gray days that makes you think it’ll never be anything but winter again.

Even on a gray day, when all the grass is taupe-y colored and dead looking, the peaceful quietness of it all makes up for any potential gloom that’s lurking around the corner (if too many of these monotone days come one after another). There’s a feeling of cozy safeness that comes with the “quiet.”

It’s nice to come outside, even if only briefly, and hear: quiet. Nobody’s out and about or making house repairs, and even the sound of children playing somewhere in the distance is missing from the aural landscape.

Taos’ rural areas really do go into hibernation, allowing us all to take it a little easier for awhile, so we’ll be ready for a more active spring and summer and the multitude of energetic sounds those seasons will bring. ~Jean