CrankyBuddhist   the learning never ends …

The bed had been moved in front of the window. The old mangled levelor had been taken down and tossed out. The old tattered purple sheet that was thumbtacked to the wall over the window had been taken down and thrown on the rag heap. Now a painters drop cloth is tucked into the top window and is hanging down to keep out the heat and the bright morning light.

I am sleeping. The breeze blows in through the bottom window which is open a few inches and the drop cloth curtain blows over my face. My eyes are closed but everything is golden. My jaw is slack, which makes me incredibly happy. For the first time in a long time I am not waking up with a clenched and tired jaw.

I drift in and out of sleep.

Yes I’m laughing …

I was going to head down to The Yucatan a few days ago to work on a photography project that I had made up for myself. I decided not to go because I thought it would be just too hot to get any work done. It was going up to 101, and above, for the time I would be there.

Anyone who lives in the Bay Area or is visiting here this week is probably already laughing.

It’s been 100 here two days in a row.

feh.

It’s not often that thunder rolls over Berkeley. Even the cats look out the window to see what is making the noise. But here we sit today in the middle of a downpour and the sound of rolling thunder can be heard off in the distance.

Yesterday’s storm was much more fierce. Fierce enough to make the macho house cat scratch at the door in the middle of the previous night so that he could come in and sleep under the blankets (which my back did not like very much, but hey, whose comfort really matters here?). The wind howled for most of the day, the windows rattled, the rain pounded, and the dog would not go out to pee. But that was about it.

Watching the news for fun and a dose of drama, the media made it sound like we would all be lucky to live through this weekend. But here we are, all cozy and comfy with luckily no reason to go outside – unless of course we just want to go out to get wet.

I love the changing of the weather. I love it when the dry days of summer and fall are over and the rains come. They don’t always, but this year seems to be holding to expectations.

Taking our morning walk in between the rain showers, the dog and I had to side step fallen branches, but for the most part, the wind had died down and the air smelled fresh and clean, with a hint of another downpour to come.

Two days ago the wind swept over this hillside and wreaked havoc on anything that happened to be not in the house. I awoke that morning and looking out the bedroom window watched the tree limbs stretch to the left and then spring back to the right. The lulls in the sweeping wind were short, not leaving all that much time for the trees to relax again. These windows were in a protected part of the house and I thought to myself I better go see what’s going on outside. I walked out to the living room, and looking out at the koi pond on the deck, all I saw were redwood fronds floating in the water. The poor fish, somewhere under there, nowhere to be seen.

I braved the winds, there is something about wind this strong, a feeling of danger, and went down to the chicken coop to let the kids out and feed them. They stayed huddled in the hen house, which was probably a good idea. I took their cue and headed back up to the house myself.

When I got back up to the deck, I looked up and watched as the redwood trees bowed and swirled with the gusts coming over the hill. They seemed to be made of rubber as they bent so far and swung back, swirling as they found their place in the grove. As far as redwood trees go, the ones in this grove are fairly young. If I hugged one, my hands would not meet, but all things being relative, they are still young trees. Dust flew into my eyes as I watched them.

I made a futile attempt to rid the pond of the redwood fronds.

I went into the house and sat at my laptop. Watching as tree limbs and leaves, and anything that wasn’t tied down, came flying down the hill, and lifted up over the roof of the house to continue on their journeys down into town.

The lights flickered. The cable went out. The phone was dead.

I sat through the windstorm and contemplated how much stronger than I Nature is. She could take me out. Right now. And I’d have to be ok with that.