Sunday, November 28, 2010

Blowing In the Wind




So, let's talk about the weather!

I have always liked gadgets like barometers, even if I never knew how to read them.  They're just cool and make nice wall decorations...even if dating themselves.  But suddenly, now that I'm in Holland, this particular gadget in our front entryway means everything.  You don't even need to know Dutch.  Storm is storm.  That's what it was, stormy, but look how much better it is now.  After I took the picture, I moved the gold arrow to on top of the black...to see what the difference would be the next day, if any.

The thing about us Gemini (you Librans and Aquarians, too) is that because we're Air signs, we need the wind.  Air circulating.  My sister Susan is also a Gemini and makes it very clear if/whenever she needs more circulation in the car or house.  It doesn't have to be cool/cold air...just circulating.  I agree.

Lucky for me, I've landed in a country that lives and moves by the direction of the wind.  Astrid checks the weather on the TV channel every night and often tells me the wind is coming from the east/Russia.  In the summer, that means hot; in the winter it means cold.  Or the wind is coming from the SW off the Atlantic Ocean, meaning a storm/rain is coming.  Have you seen rain that pours horizontally instead of vertically?  It gives a whole new meaning to umbrellas...specifically inverted ones!

When I was 8, I spent an overnight with a girlfriend in her family's farmhouse out in the Michigan countryside.   I don't remember much except that before bedtime a huge midwestern, bombastic thunderstorm unleashed itself.  I was beside myself with fear.  My friend's older sister observed what was happening to me (away from my parents) and motioned me over to the tall farmhouse window where she stood.  She turned me in front of her to look out the window at the storm, with her hands placed firmly on my shoulders.  Not a word.  Just her hands on my shoulders.  I still remember the calmness that slowly seeped into me for what seemed like hours, midst the storm.  It is that eternalized moment to which I point for my love of thunderstorms to this very day.

My children and grandson know this.  Whenever we're together and a storm erupts, they all look at me and wait for me to scrunch myself up and say "Cozy, cozy!"  Then we all smile and share a certain camaraderie without words.  Peace hands on the shoulders.

While I totally understand why most photographers prefer sunny days, I happen to be one who never cares if Mr. Sun is in bed for the day.  For one thing, I'm a fair-skinned redhead who comes from a history of skin cancer.  So as long as it's not raining when I'm out-n-about, I thrive on the moody, with-an-attitude skies.  For me, they make some of my best pictures.  If you know anything about the Dutch weather in this regard, you can see why I was made for this country:  more cold than hot, more windy than calm, more rainy than dry.  Don't get me wrong:  I love the sunny days, too.  But I don't have to have them.

So, when was the last time you talked about the weather and you really were talking about the weather?!  Did someone say SNOW? We got our first dusting this past Saturday and even drove in it early before it melted later in the day.  I kept whispering to myself, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!" 




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