March 9, 2006
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Winds
I woke to the wind under the door, the dark warm wind of change,
whistling at the crack, blowing through the chilly grass,
bringing restlessness, bringing spring. Births and deaths alike
fly legion on its tail. Goat kids newly arrived yesterday now
gambol
sturdily; the lambs are coming today, tomorrow, soon. Even in the human
world, less touched by the natural courses, changes abound. Bits
of news, seized half-formed in passing, note time passages
elsewhere: the shattering war, the breaking peace, the frenzied
global swirl of world affairs and the lesser, sillier local bits-and-pieces. Friends at work
are busier with no time for banter. One, promoted, travels more
frequently and kvetches less, slated for greater things and
wrapped in a new whirlwind. An acquaintance wedded in the fall is huge
and waddling toward her birthing: I joke with another bystander, both of us bemused: "Gosh, that happened
quickly; do you think she'd agree?!" New life burgeons in the wind's wake while
old life sweeps aside. My eldest's classmate's father, not much my
senior,
succumbs to cancer. At the funeral a wild, chill gale whips the somber graveside draperies and scatters the
tears abroad. My aunt, the family matriarch, the model of a strong and gracious
life well-lived, is wasting away in the north. Surrounded by
family and friends, attended daily by children and grandchildren, she's
leaving life like she lived it: calmly, with dignity and honor, slowly but steadily. The wind is also under her
door this morning. Does she, too, feel its restless, readying pull toward an unknown future?
Comments (11)
I think this is masterful. You have a gift for storytelling, and tying things together.
Beautiful sentiments. Thanks.
I'm thinking she does. This is so good. I love to read when you get on a whimsical tangent.
It also reminded me of the main character in the movie Chocolat. Have you seen it? The winds pulled at her to change, too.
A mezmerizingly beautiful post draped in sadness but somehow awash with amazing beauty. There is so much beauty in both tragedy and the unknown but often we neglect it and only focus on the pain.
This post was full of life, even though it skirts death around the edges. Truly a magnificent vignette. Thank you.
Our lives are full of constant change. Our surroundings seldom stay the same for very long; people come and go, relationships evolve and pass, the seasons change in a pattern but are different each year. You have, again, expressed this so well.
Wonderful -- I love all the imagery.
beautifully put. there is a season, and so forth.
Eloquence.
Pure and simple, yet so powerful.
You're such a good writer. Thank you for sharig this lovely post. Lisa
Chocolat was a fine treatise that prominently featured winds, as Daff said. Circles, in another art form, by Harry Chapin, also comes to mind. Do not ask me why. Well, you can, but I don't know the answer.
answers un-needed. Winds blowing. thank you.
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