Sometimes A Storm Is Required

The wind tore through the Catskills last night. Living nestled at the foot of the mountains generally means we don't get extreme weather. Between the mountains and the Hudson River, the screaming storms tend to soften for us. I've lived in a spot just a couple of hours away that seemed to be a weather vortex - the most massive electrical storms, the heaviest snows, the howlingest winds. Last night it felt like that again.

I woke to a constant roar - the wind was screaming while rain pounded down. I'm a heavy sleeper; storms don't usually wake me. My guy was up on an elbow, peering out the window.

"Is it a hurricane?"

"Sounds like it," he said.

And I went back to sleep.

I really like wind, at least when I know I can take shelter from it if I need to. I've stood outside in 60 mph winds just because it was exhilirating. But I've been outside, a long way from home and lone, buffeted by winds and scared, realizing just how powerful that invisible monster can be.

But inside, safe, hearing it tear around the house and scream up the road, it's wonderful. It feels like the world's being cleansed and it will be all fresh and new in the morning. I don't get that impression when it rains - rain gives the world a dusting. But wind blasts off all the old, rotted, dying things, opens up space for the new, growing things.

The sun's coming up now, I suspect it's cold and not nearly so romantic as I imagine. And I'm sad to know that once I'm out in the car, driving up the highway to work, the wind won't be my friend. Maybe I'll just open up the windows.

Which Way Blow the Prevailing Winds?

I can't figure it out, I tell you. There's been a definite shift in the universal winds, a movement after months of stagnation, a scent of change in the air.

And most of it is forward motion - something I've hoped and worked for.

But just as I take a deep breath, preparing to let out an exhale that's been waiting to escape for months now, the winds shift.

Not so fast there, whippersnapper. Better shift your balance - wouldn't want you to get lazy or overly confident. To the nimble go the spoils.

Okay, I'm on my toes. I'm paying attention. I'm trying not to put a value on any of it, seeing it all as a learning experience, all of it as something that offers me something I can use.

The wind is great for new beginnings. Ever go outside after a wind storm and notice all the dead sticks, branches and leaves on the ground? That violence gave everything a good shaking and cleaned out all the dead wood, making room for growth.

Wind is exciting, too. When I was a kid, I stood out in front of my uncle's farmhouse and watched a tornado coming up the road. I was so enthralled it didn't occur to me to be afraid until he came out and yelled for me to get inside.

The tail of a hurricane blew through our town when I lived in Connecticut. After going outside to hustle Vito, our ornery cat, to safety, I stayed outside and let the wind whip me around. It was just enough to be exhilirating, not so much as to be terrifying. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I guess I'll be putting that exhale off for awhile longer. Better just to stick with the calm, even breaths and let the wild winds do the work.