Message of the Whipping Wind
A Year of Noticing - Day 117
The winds whipped and roared this morning, with leaves and branches knocking so loudly I kept wondering if there was someone at the door. Just the wind, making its presence known in a loud and persistant way! I felt fortunate that I didn’t have any where I needed to go this morning and could simply observe the wind from indoors!
By afternoon, the sky was blue and the thin, wisps of soft white clouds seemed to sail quickly across the sky and it appeared that the intensity of the winds may have quieted a little.
I bundled up before heading out the door this afternoon, just in case the clear skies were simply an illusion that we winds had settled. For the first few moments along my walk, I thought I had overdressed.
As I turned a corner, a gust of wind nearly pushed me over and I was grateful for the extra layer of protection my snowpants offered. I nestled down a little deeper into my neck warmer so that it covered more of my cheeks and my nose, I noticed that I began to feel more like a turtle going into its shell as I hid from the wind, than a person walking down the street.
The clear, blue skies felt like a bit of a ruse. They didn’t fit the rest of the mood of the day - the way the winds whipped and pushed, gusted and swirled. The grasses nearly bent sideways and if they weren’t so deeply rooted I was certain these winds would have whipped them right out of the ground and carried them across the park.
One gust surprised me so much, that the empty sled I was pulling nearly launched into the sky like a kite. As the wind whipped the sled up into the air I felt like I was going to be taken up along with it, sailing up into the sky like Mary Poppins!
What I noticed through these gusts of winds, was that the mood of the wind didn’t seem to match the sunny, clear skies. I tend to expect windy days in winter to be accompanied by cloudy, gloomy and overcast skies, and this afternoon felt like a weather and emotional conundrum.
It almost felt like the clear skies were masking an underlying feeling of intense anger that needed to be released through the winds… and the winds were definitely communicating the strength and intensity of their feelings in a very big way! Perhaps a signal, or a warning of the cold weather that is on its way… but it wasn’t something that could be ignored… and like emotions of anger or frustation, it isn’t good or bad - but definitely something to notice and pay attention to, and perhaps even get curious about what message it is trying to convey…
xo
You can explore all the previous posts in A Year of Noticing right HERE.
I live in North Idaho but am a Western Washington native.
Dad used to call blue sky "sucker holes" which made everyone laugh at its truth.
One of his favorite phrases, speaking about Mount Rainier was "the Mountain makes its own weather."
He could also describe every type of cloud, and because he was a private pilot he could tell you (and show you) what flying in those lovely fluffy demons felt like.
Your post brought up lovely winter memories.
In summer, we Iowans say "It's not the heat, it's the humidity. In winter, we say "It's not the temperature, it's the wind chill." This morning when I went out to changed the water in the heated bird bath, I thought, yep, colder days coming. We need some colder days or we'll have a bumper crop of bugs next summer!