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Thursday, January 3, 2008

Winter

The wind blows, and tree limbs sway and bend as the remaining leaves beat themselves against branches mostly bare. I too bend against the wind, sweeping the yellow star leaves off the driveway where they will molder and stain the cement if left in the coming rain. My efforts to keep the brown muck from tracking onto the living room carpet are mostly futile, but it feels good to be outside in the elements. Gone is the icy chill of the past few days, the wind now just a buffeting of cool and refreshing air swept in from the ocean miles away instead of down from the snowcapped mountains to the northeast of us. Four days of storm are predicted and I rush to and fro from the house to the garage packing away the Christmas decorations in a race to beat the rain. Mother Nature has a way of instigating a flurry of activity and prompting us towards chores that might otherwise be left unattended. The gale grows in strength as I cart the red, green and white tubs from the house to the garage. Once there I weave my way through the piles of stuff that have accumulated since the Autumn’s garage sale and I am tempted to rearrange things a little, but the wind has followed me in, reminding me to hurry and not contemplate the chaos. Turn sideways here, raise my arms over the bikes there, and rotate the tub sideways to get past the pile of boxes holding new cabinets for the bathrooms. As narrow as it is, I am grateful for the path that winds a way to the back shelves where the tubs will stay tucked away until next December, and I don’t complain. On the last trip back to the house I notice the wind is less, the clouds a soft thick blanket of grey, and I feel the first hints of moisture in the air as I stand quiet, breathing in the wild damp air. I know I have finished just in time as a drop splashes off my cheek, and I head inside to light a firelog, and settle with my book in the reading chair. Later I sit and listen, the rain beating steadily against the patio cover, drumming a soothing cadence and making me glad to be safe and warm inside my snug little house.

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