We woke to the sound of cow bells
as the herds were driven to pasture,
to the shouts of the farmhands and the ring
of the metalled wheels of the farm carts on the stony dusty paths.
Gillian Freeman, The Alabaster Egg

Spring here in the Rocky Mountain foothills rings with two distinctive sounds. First, of course, is the dawn chorus of birds. Being in a small canyon that boasts cottonwoods and running water, we are blessed with a multi-toned concert of place, voices ringing across the half-mile-wide canyon bottom, sometimes highlighted by a passing flock not yet at the end of its migration, perhaps heading toward mountain meadows still thawing. Just a couple days ago, the afternoon was spiced up by the distinctive buzz of the first hummingbird of the year.

The other spring "soundmark" in these parts is the layered harmony of the spring winds. Again, the canyon lends its special charm, with piñon pines in the yard, small hillsides within a hundred yards or so, and the farther high ridges being blasted by the unbroken high-desert breath of sky each adding its voice to a shimmering, pulsing, ever-changing mix of tones. A moment of silence might be softly stirred by a breeze surmounting the western ridge....it comes closer, the hillsides adding their higher-pitched hiss, then sweeps past where I stand, the pines around me speaking in more than a whisper as their twigs and needles dance wild. As the leading edge of the wind passes by, the more distant currents of air on hills all around come again to the fore, shifting and speaking the voice of the canyon in this moment.

In this spirit of awakening to the outdoors and to the coming of summer, I thank you all for your early support of the Institute, and encourage you to be in touch.

Jim Cummings
AEI Founder

Contact:
45 Cougar Canyon
Santa Fe, NM 87508
ph 505-466-1879 fax 505-466-4930