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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

The Wind Fairy Stopped By

If I smelled the winds of change on October 1, today I can say they hit me over the head. The winds blew from the north and northeast all day, with gusts up to 30 knots.

We will be at perigee with the moon tomorrow, which brings higher than usual tides. I noticed it this morning in a big way. I woke up much earlier than I would've rather. The sun was up, but not by much. I rubbed the sleep from my head, shuffled to get some coffee (organic! fair trade!), and sat down on my veranda staring at the ocean. Whenever I hear my "big chimes" clanging on the back of the house, I know winds are north. The chimes were doing their business this early hour, but I didn't think much of it. After a few minutes of cobweb clearing and coffee, I got dressed for a run. When I made my way to the street, it was windier than usual, and cool. I attributed the cool weather to the early hour... I'm never out this early.

I got down to business, and began my run. My street lies parallel to the Coupon Bight immediately street side. There are tidal differences, but today was incredible. The water in some places was lapping at the asphalt, a mere 2 feet or less from where I am running. The north wind pushes the water in. This, coupled with tomorrow's perigee made for an incredible sight. There was even honest to goodness seafoam at all the edges of the Bight, I'd never seen that, ever. It was unnerving, and beautiful, all at the same time. Within less than 1/4 mile of beginning, the gusts began sweeping through my route, and were whistling through the earbuds of my iPod. Then, as I rounded a curve, I heard the wind literally howl through the mangroves. That's not something I'm accustomed to hearing unless there's REALLY nasty weather, its never a sound I enjoy because of that. Perhaps I'd just never been out for a run with 30 knot gusts before down here, but today I found the howling was kind of cool. I took out the earbuds to listen to the wind. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, yes, it really was howling. And I began to study the water in the Bight, there were small rollers in there, another thing I've never seen without there being REALLY nasty weather associated. There were several great white herons still tucked in the mangroves, I guess the wind made them want to sleep in.

As I made my way through my route, my mind wandered to a thousand different subjects. Finally I ended up thinking about autumn in earnest. The crispness to the air, the clearing effect of the wind, and the sunshine on my skin combined to make me feel lighter. I want less clutter in my life, I want less conflict in my life, and I want simpler things in my life. I want this now, and have been carving a path in this direction for a while. Its been a years long process of detaching from possessions, and not always easy. Today was another perfect opportunity for me to again "lighten up." My feet felt lighter (turned in some really good times on my miles!), my heart felt lighter, and my soul felt lighter. After I made my way home, I did a few chores, and went to task of eliminating more things from my life. In the Keys, its always easy to find a new home for things no longer needed. There's great groups down here that accept donations, and organizations that publish lists of who is looking for what, so those that "have" and "don't need" anymore can give to someone "who needs" yet "doesn't have." I've got yet another pile of things here going out the door to charity, all inspired by some great air and the smell of autumn.

One final point. I want to make this clear for my northerly challenged friends...autumn smell is NOT raked leaves and fireplaces, but more the faint scent of palm fronds & sea grape leaves composting back to earth, mingling with cooler sea air. Yes, our autumn stopped by today, and my life is a little lighter. Thank you Universe, but PS: can you please find it in your wisdom to let me sleep just a littler later tomorrow... please?

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