photo from last spring of the Rio Grande gorge in Taos
When I first moved to Taos, a mountain town in Northern New Mexico, it was April, windy season. Walking on the mesa above the Rio Grande gorge, the wind was immense—and multiple. I realized that it wasn’t just windy, there were many winds happening all at once. I observed there was the hard wind which blew over the mesa, and the terrifying one that roared up out of the gorge. There was also the medium wind where it got trapped in a copse of juniper and made a hollow, enchanting music, the little wind that roughly shook the scent off the bushes of sage, the hot wind on my face and hands that whistled dryly around my ears, the tentative wind that reached the ground between the sagebrush and tried to rattle the rocks of dry mud. Each wind was independently observable, and a world I could enter. Stand in that tree and listen. Crouch by the bush and listen. Lie down on the ground, listen.
Just as there’s never one answer to a question, there’s never one way to hear the wind, one ocean you are seeing, or one field you’re sitting in. This exercise will help you tune your attention to the real world, assess the multiple stories within a dominant story, and practice descriptive writing.
prompt 004: how many?
This week, go sit or be in nature, get quiet, and observe. Choose an element of your surroundings to investigate. See how many you can identify. How many kinds of grass are there where you’re sitting, or huddles or spreads of snow? How many kinds of wind can you hear? How many kinds of light can you see? How many kinds or mood of clouds?
Try to record in your notebook the many ‘qualities of the thing’ or ‘versions of the thing’ you can identify. Describe as many and as much as you can. You don’t need to know the names of the grasses or the clouds, but you might want to find out later. Write down other things you want to know. Keep recording and describing. Sit until you cannot tolerate what you are missing.
strategy tip
Should you use metaphor in your descriptions? Try not to! In this exercise, we want to get as deep into the observable world as possible, really ‘be with.’ Where you feel description fails you, you might just write that down. “I cannot describe this [thing]. It is too immense.” Then, follow with two tiny observations and try not to capture the whole thing. Remember, ‘whole thing’ is not the point here. Instead of metaphor, lean into the details of the observable world, which are of course variously observable.
really loved the vividness of the first paragraph and the use of "—and multiple" felt so perfect in its placement. First time, I read it, I wondered why you didn't just say "immense and multiple", but after reading the following sentences and seeing how you highlighted all the various winds in their specific natures, it made all the sense.
btw tiny typo: you wrote "right this down" instead of "write this down" in your final paragraph.
I will attempt this exercise. For someone like me who loves a metaphor, I will try my best to fight the urge and describe the very things I feel and see.