Walking Against the Wind

Up here in the mts., the hours of light are shortening while dark hours lengthen. Recently we started the fire, which will likely not go out till May or so. As I write this, dusk is silhouetting the trees against the last bit of light in the West.

The winds so typical of the changing seasons hereabouts, especially the changes from Winter to Spring and from Autumn to Winter are wildly blowing. Earlier today they blew SNOW, to my surprise. My husband reminds me, "It IS November, y'know..."- I never seem to be ready for it when it happens.

From time to time throughout today the snow ebbed and flowed from flurry to steady, to sideways blowin'...and eventually faded out this afternoon. As the sunset silhouetted the pines, branches dancing in the wind, dark violet-gray clouds blew across the sky from the West.

I am usually afraid to walk in the woods in winds like these and try to keep my walks with my two dogs short both in time and distance. But today I felt the wind's power and I felt its' invitation to accept that power within. In the night, the winds' voice usually frightens me, but last night I slept well.

This morning, as I walked to the post office, I was glad for the hat I wisely threw on as I walked out the door. I actually wished I had put on an extra top layer, but was glad for my cozy new fleece jacket.

The wind was blowing at my back. I didn't much think about it. It was strong and I suppose if I had been thinking about it, noticing more, I might have felt supported by it.

But on the way back home...

I thought about what it meant to be walking against the wind as I did so. I felt challenged. Snow was blowing in my eyes and made seeing where I was going kinda tough, but my hat helped. I had to put out more effort to make my steps move forward...it was surprising.

I was surprised by the elections too. I felt maybe the winds were at our backs. And then...those winds changed directions. No longer at our backs, they challenge our movement forward.

And so the winds of change blow and the wheel of the years will turn. Season to season, year to year, to the end of this president's last term.

Now...we're walking against the wind.

Like the trees and any other plant that endures the daily challenges of the elements in Nature, our core will be strengthened structurally. We'll toughen and become more flexible and supple. We'll learn like the trees, when to hold on and when to let go. We'll collect, process, utilize and activate. We'll be deeply-rooted and grow together, connecting roots, strengthing and supporting one another, and creating community all at once.

And when the wheel of years comes around to that time of strong winds, indicating change, we will let go of dead wood. We will prevail against the winds, but let them cleanse the land of stagnation and rot. That day, the winds will also carry the seeds of the future, to settle down upon the lands. That future will be born of this time, this challenge.

One day the wind will change direction once more when it has been at others' backs, supporting them and their movment forward with strength. It will be the time in their cycle, to embrace what it is like to walk against the winds.