Warrior Spirit

"To’sa-mocho ta’yetchy," whispers the wind. "White beard who rises with the sun...there is great medicine among the cholla. Close your eyes. Drink the timeless elixir of life." 

Eyes shut I erase a century of time and connect with the people of the Llano Estacado plains--the native inhabitants our forefathers knew as Comanche. What would they make of such a fine day? They would embrace the power and austere beauty of the prairie. Similarly, the raw wilds of the Llano Estacado help to define me. I choose to walk forever with the people in harmony with the land.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Comanche Warrior Spirit

Solitude's Domain

While north winds dole fierce lullabies,
Snow finds repose on wooded lane,
Harmony reigns mid wintry melodies,
As life takes pause in solitude’s domain.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Solitude's Domain
(North of Rainier, Oregon USA)

Road To Adventure

Behind me the red cliffs of Mesa Redonda and caprock palisade of the northern Llano Estacado escarpment endure in their age-old dance with wind, rain and sun. Pursued by a cloud of red dust, I scramble westward down a familiar New Mexico dirt road. I make careful headway. Arroyos and mesas scattered across the southern reaches of the Canadian River Plain offer arduous albeit adventurous passage. These are bygone stomping grounds of native Americans, Spanish friars and conquistadores, outlaws and white settlers. Kiowa and Apache of this region call the Canadian River goo-al-pah. The river springs from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in southern Colorado. Ancient memories of snowmelt torrents linger in manmade lakes along its 900 miles course through New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. It is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River.

Azure drapes the distant mesa

Timeless straw and coyote den

Red dirt road invites adventure

Breath of sage calls cattlemen.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Road To Adventure

Rough-Hewn Enchantment
(The northern Llano Estacado Escarpment rises behind eroded cliffs of Mesa Redonda in badlands south of Tucumcari, New Mexico USA)

Sangre De Cristo

We turn East on Highway 503 towards the 13,000-foot, snow-capped Truchas Peaks. A peacock sentinel and several of his brethren squawk at our intrusion near their adobe-walled hacienda compound. They usher us onto the mountain route to Taos. We wind our way through high desert, mountains, Ponderosa Pine forests, small farms, and old Spanish Land Grant hamlets--Nambé, Chimayó, Córdova, and Truchas. Before long the breathtaking views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains dominate the skyline. Nestled in green valleys numerous ancient trails and crossroads gather people into communities of artists, seekers of pastoral serenity, and those making a life off the land.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Truchas Peaks
(Sangre de Cristo Mountains north of Santa Fe, New Mexico USA)

Happy Thanksgiving

Nightfall before Thanksgiving marks twenty days past early November’s Frosty Moon. The timid crescent of a young Moon awash in pastel sunset hues oversees the close of day. A wedge of Canada geese flushed in ebbing sunlight gossips overhead and disappears into the vail of night to the east. I pause and delight in the moment. My heart submits in humble reverence blessed by the grace of God, thankful for a year filled with love, family, friends and adventures in the natural world. Happy Thanksgiving!

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Llanero Viejo
(Self-portrait)

Frosty Scuttlebutt

Melodic flight calls and seemingly discombobulated flight patterns of Sandhill Cranes have graced Llano Estacado autumn airs for several weeks. Nearby Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge is an overwintering haven. This morning the first wedge of branta canadensis wings their way in a southwesterly direction. They bring scuttlebutt of White Owl Woman moving south from her arctic summer abode. Tonight our unexpected guest intends to assert her dominion as she ushers in the first 20º night of the winter season. I contemplate the impending tribulations for wildlife on the Llano Estacado tablelands.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Light Dusting

Yucca In Winter

Chien De Neige

Cooper and I roam the Llano Estacado prairie under heavy cloud cover. Early daylight trims the eastern horizon in silver hues. Light snow dances on chilled prairie airs. Solitude drapes the tablelands. Verdant summer scapes and wildflowers no longer spellbind as they relinquish command of my heart to snow-covered, golden seas of straw. The hymn "How Great Thou Art", inspired by the Swedish poem "O Store Gud" written 130 years ago by Carl Boberg is on my lips. The melody is a Swedish folk tune. While Cooper true to his new moniker of Chien De Neige explores the wilds and pauses for a brief visit with four horse pals, nature fills my soul and sets heart at ease.

Down dances wintry ballet

Serenity lulls rough-hewn lands

Playful dog makes tracks

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Chien De Neige

The Sky Opened And Gave Us Multnomah Falls

"A modern four-lane ribbon of asphalt and concrete through the fabled Columbia River Gorge threads my passage between 200-foot basalt cliffs and mighty expanses of river. Numerous waterfalls emerge from snow squalls and the low cloud cover. Some tumble into precipitous chasms. Others are silver rivulets of sky on a more subtle journey to their ocean home." (Excerpt of prose about my journey to Rainier, Oregon)

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Multnomah Falls
(Near Portland, Oregon USA)

Icy Northerlies

By high noon wind-driven snow blankets the Llano Estacado. The call of the wild proves irresistible to Cooper and me. We set out into the squalls under overcast skies. Eerie melodies of icy northerly winds across distant power lines intrude on the silent dance of snowflakes. Meanwhile, Cooper's enthusiastic prairie romp stirs a jack rabbit from cover and culminates in a short foot race. I meander until a ranch road invites thoughts of home with whispers of relief from wintry chill.

 © Ilija Lukić 2014

Road Home
(Llano Estacado east of Clovis, New Mexico USA)

Wintertide

Spirit of Winter howls grim burden,
Wintertide brushes timeworn plains,
White Owl Woman with gentle sermon
Embraces amber autumn refrains.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Wintertide
(Yucca seed pods on Llano Estacado near Clovis, New Mexico USA)

White Owl Woman

Winter Night

As temperatures hover near the freezing mark, a brief excursion into the early-winter night adorned by full Moon and crisp starlit skies stimulates shivers and inspires awe.

Old Moon cries the blues
Wistful scents from hearth fires rise
North wind howls dusk to dawn

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Old Moon

Family Affair

A bison calf wrestles with curiosity and survival instincts as it inches in my direction. Curiosity won the day. I'm grateful the adults are tolerant of my intrusion.

© Ilija Lukić 2015

Family Affair
(American Buffalo north of Clovis, New Mexico USA)

Eye To Eye

Spirits of ancient native Americans still roam the high plains of New Mexico. Stories of bison hunts whispered in reverence while gathered around mesmerizing flickers of camp fires drift on prairie winds. My heart gathers the snorts and heavy breath of the mighty beasts. For a brief moment our eyes touch. Another door to the universe and my understanding of the Great Mystery opens.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Eye To Eye
(Bison bison near Running Water Draw, New Mexico USA)

Sun Catchers

Prairie cottons autumn sun
Sea of grass ripples ancient songs
Revered bison roam free

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Suncatcher

Heart-To-Heart Rendezvous

Home On The Range

Spirit Keeper

Circle Of Life

Near the banks of the Running Water Draw north of Clovis, New Mexico, tasiwóo graze peacefully as in days of yore. A resurgence of wildflowers adds summer moods to the early autumn tranquility of the vast Llano Estacado plain. Passing clouds briefly shade the sun-drenched prairie and amplify the spiritual aura of the imposing icons of the Great Plains. 

©Ilija Lukić 2014

Circle Of Life
(Bison bison aka American Buffalo north of Clovis, New Mexico USA)

Call Of The Wild

Cooper and I ramble across the prairie just after sunrise. Nose to the wind, he answers the call of the wild with purposeful forays across the rough terrain. Yellow floral bouquets of Broom Snakeweed dominate the tapestry of shortgrass prairie straw, yucca, and cacti. The timeless allure of vast prairie expanses under a deep blue firmament invites my heart to song and soul to soar. For a brief moment the passage of time is irrelevant. I understand eternity.

The natural world most certainly nurtures the primal threads that bind us to one another and illuminate our essence.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Call Of The Wild
(Cooper on the Llano Estacado prairie in full autumn regalia near Clovis, New Mexico USA)

Colonial Williamsburg

Completed in 1715 this house of God still serves the faithful. The slower pace of an earlier time permeates historic Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia USA.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Bruton Parish Episcopal Church
(Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia USA)

Colonial Williamsburg Cottage

Doorkeeper To Days Of Yore

Dressed in period garb of the American post-colonial era, a citizen pauses and reminisces bygone days on the front steps of the historic Williamsburg, Virginia courthouse built in 1771. An unknown architect designed the building on a geometrical scheme absent columns. Height to the cupola equals the width. It's centrally located on Market Square. As capital for the Colony of Virginia from 1699 to 1780 the city was a center of political events in Virginia fueling the American Revolution. July 25, 1776 lawyer Benjamin Waller read the Declaration of Independence to the assembled citizenry from these steps.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Doorkeeper To Days Of Yore
(Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia USA)

Touching God

While the heart touches boundless horizons
As sunsets compose symphonies of light,
The mind gains clarity of the why and wherefore
And the soul communes with eternity, with God.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Sinfonía De Luz
(New Mexico's high plains near the Running Water Draw)

Into The Sunset
(Homeward bound after the celestial light show north of Clovis, New Mexico USA)

Time Without End

My heart spills lost poetry,

While soul adrift on autumn winds

Invites my senses to dance.

Dance to music of time without end.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Let There Be Light

Naked Eternity

Setting Moon and city lights of Clovis, New Mexico illuminate wispy cloud cover on a starlit high plains night.

Crickets delight pensive minds,

Waning Moon calms restive hearts

Starlight affirms eternity.

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Primordial Soup

Moonset Over Clovis

The Lean Years

© Ilija Lukić 2014

Lean Years