March Comes In Like a Lion

  Yesterday the wild wind blew and her high speed gales kept us inside most of the day. The house creaked and groaned. I am so glad the llamas have a nice shelter from the wind and cold. Paul built it before we moved them up to Utah. The chickens paced and cackled inside their spacious luxurious coop behind flapping shade panels and rumbling  panels of tin roofing. In the afternoon we put on our coats and boots to feed our animals. The hay tarps had blown clean off . Paul and I worked together to fasten them down as they whipped to and fro around us. After feeding, we reached the new back door that Paul had installed in the back of the house. He put in a temporary ramp leading up to the threshold. 


The sound of the wind and the ramp up to the door reminded me of Dorthy's scene on the Wizard of Oz where she stamps her foot wildly on the basement door in the tornado scene. The Great Wind of the Vernal Equinox and the night of the Greatest of Moons filled me with excitement.I could not resist stamping my foot on the ramp like Dorothy did on the basement door. "Auntie Em! Uncle Henry!" I screamed, stamping on the wood as the winds carried my words into the next county.


Paul, not being a fan of the Wizard of Oz had no idea what I was doing. I just smiled sweetly at him and together we walked up the ramp to enter the house. The wind followed after us, blowing curtains and papers all over the room.

 That I night I went to bed early to read. I just love this book Happy for No Reason by Marci Shimoff.
It is nice to read something pleasant before turning in. I could hear the different patterns of wind as her mighty force barreled through the rugged ranges, whistled through the big old apple tree and slammed against the bedroom wall.

Paul came and asked me to look at a Bluegrass Band called Cherryholmes that was performing on TV. I thought about it for a moment. He had that certain wanting look on his face so I knew it would be worth getting out of our nice warm bed to take a look. I stood by the TV in the corner of the room and listened to the lively mountain song. I enjoyed them so much I sat down. They were a family who formed a  Bluegrass band named Cherryholmes. The father had a long grey beard nicely buffed arms and tattooed. He held a base fiddle to the front of his body as his daughters and sons played fiddles, mandolins and guitars. The mother yodeled clear and they all joined in a precision River Dance. We sat there watching the show, while the wind wrapped around the walls of our house and blew open the vent flaps on the roof.

Cherryholmes Bluegrass Band.
Check them out on amazon.com
click on the image.

Moments later we heard an unfamiliar whirr that seemed to circle the house. It was over and around our home like hovering helicopters and idling tractors. When the noisy wave was over Paul got out his flashlight and investigated outdoors. The dry brittle bones of my Aspen trellis had cracked clean above the ground. Paul laid the skeleton down to rest in the yard.

I had envisioned Clematis or Morning Glory climbing up it's silver limbs and gracefully trailing down to earth, but in two years I had only a 5 inch high growth of either climber. Not to worry. The Great Wind has made room for our young Elm trees to stretch and grow.

The long green garden bench was blown 20 feet across the yard and crashed into the front fence. The lid of the trash can was wide open. Other than that everything else was right where we left it. In the crowded city where we lived, in California, there would have been enormous devastation in winds like this. The trees in the city are blocked from the wind and the limbs are weak from lack of exercise. The limbs of big oaks and Sycamores snap and crash on top of cars and roofs. Here in the country, the trees have muscle. They feel the force of winds and sway with it from early on in their long lives. The wind is good and March is full of wind here. Nature's ways are magic, unexpected and to be respected. The March winds stimulates root growth and strengthens the limbs, nuzzling, licking and pulling the trunk and branches like a mother lion ensuring life to her new cub. Whew* She takes all the stuffing out of me and keeps our spring wanting bodies still and waiting as if not to disturb her most glorious work. I recede indoors with appreciation of Her coming attraction. I begin tending to my own creations indoors, planting seeds and planning my summer gardens while sipping my delicate and fragrant cup of green tea. Life is good.

We slept on the wings of whirling waves and flapping folds of long brisk winds under the close watch of mother moon. Full and bright she shined on the night of the Vernal Equinox and The Great Wind and the Greatest of All Moons. It is morning now and the small flakes of snow have begun swirling, floating, winding their way to earth like white rose petals. We are home bound yet another day. This day is  perfect for a homemade stew and a big red bowl of colorful Amish popcorn while episodes of Northern Exposure. ♥ Life is good.