The wind was fierce this morning. Last night, I kept waking up thinking that there were small animals scavenging around in the kitchen. With the reason that daylight brings, I am pretty sure it was just the wind knocking the window panes around. As I was driving down the freeway this morning, my little Chevy Prism was being tossed from one side of the lane to the other. I hadn’t registered how windy it was, so I looked at the tree tops to see them waving side to side. Two seagulls were diving in the wind above the freeway – dipping down low, then swooping back up high. They were having too much fun, and as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, I wondered if I was the only one not enjoying the wind. Then I see this tiny little sparrow flying into the wind with all his might. Only a meter from the sign pole he wanted to land on, he was not moving forward at all. His little wings were flapping like mad, but he remained totally stationary. Before I saw whether or not he made it to his destination, the Prism soared under the traffic sign and in five minutes I arrived safely at work.

Thanks to this wind, by the end of today, many trees will have been stripped of their remaining leaves, and I of my false hope that winter is far off down the road.

Today, I am grateful for wind and all other invisible forces of change.