Two things are coming into my head right now…A Walk to Remember movie and songs about wind. There is a line in the movie where Jamie, one of the main characters, describes the wind like love, you can’t see it but you can feel it. A brush of warmth. Then I hop on over in my mind to an old folk song by Bob Dylan Blowin’ In the Wind which was one of the songs I sung in my school choir (another place in time). I love the line “the answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.” Get the cob webs out, let the unseen wash over you and breathe…just breathe.
Oh my, the winds have been crazy for the passed few days here on the island. Crazy windy, which come to think of it seems to be characteristic of island living….go big or go home kind of winds. It’s the power behind them that catches you off guard. Holding my 10 month old granddaughter in my arms (because I can now) while walking down my red dirt laneway, the wind whips her hat off her little head. Which of course that is what she wants as any hat bothers her. Oh to have such a problem in her tiny world…hat go away. Voila…gone. I can understand that feeling of whirling chaos as it whips its unseen blusters and billowing puffs to get your heart rate pumping. Invigorating. I watch this beautiful little being, placing her face into the wind, blowing her little wisps of hair all around. Big toothy grin (all of 6 teeth mind you), stretching out her neck, and holding her head steady, as the wind touches her with its enthusiasm. Me too!!
I never know what to expect when the wind comes a calling. My favourite is a fair feeling breezy wind coming in from the south. Oh so warm…ish. And then I go down to the seashore as the south wind (definitely not the northwind) has its way with the waves rolling into the shoreline. Standing on one of the larger rock faces, fallen from the red cliffs, the wind and waves simultaneously bring forth a torrent of fire and brim together. It feels good and refreshing. Waking my whole body up. And you feel great standing steadfast against the elements.
I have to laugh as we tried to sit outside for a bit, sun cascading its rays and the wind …well she wrestled with the umbrella. It did not matter how I put the angle of the umbrella, the wind seemed to curl around it, taking the umbrella, and wanting it to fly. Hold your horses. I got the message, no umbrella. You have to get to the point where you let nature happen…basically let go let nature.
But I love listening to the wind as it gives that comforting sound of white noise. It is soothing to the soul, bringing a constant din of voiceless humming. Especially at night, I tuck into my comforter and listen, feeling safe and sound. Yet there are times (not this weekend thankfully) when it gets kind of crazy-like, the hydro pole lines take a beating from the overhanging trees messing with its lines….I hold my breath. Hydro still on. I now understand the significance of treetop cuts along the roads across the island. Smart.
I know the wind can be a foe at times. Not so great as it demands respect when its ire gets up….the wake of it can be quite destructive. It can leave you feeling vulnerable, helpless, delicate even. Maybe it is one of the many reminders of the preciousness of life. It kind of gets close up and personal in your face, a reminder of the fragility of living. One cannot stop the unstoppable but instead, ride out the storm.
Oh wind, you do have many sides to you. I think you breathe life to give life and never know when you come. Like Bette Midler as she sings You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings. To experience the wind in all its colours but also to be the wind (not like being full of hot air kind of wind). Giving hope, being life-giving. I think about the Holy Spirit right now and how it works in believers, coming when you least expect it like the wind, bringing its strength to all to do goodness. Come Holy Spirit.
I think it might be a case that like life, the wind itself can take the wind out of your sails at times but at the same time, powerfully billows its strength and you can navigate the sail. So when someone says to ‘batten down the hatches’, don’t get a new hairdo.
Blessings this day.
Let’s pray for all those in need today.
Karenpondering 
