Does Wind Whisper or Roar?

Later in this column, I’ll give you the scientific definition of WIND.  But for the moment, think about wind only as a source of energy—something we can’t see but can feel.  I consider it the most mysterious of weather conditions.  Where is it?  If it can be so powerful, why can’t we see it?

This winter of 2013/2014 has proved to be one of the most extreme weather patterns in recent years (in some cases decades).

Mostly we consider wind to be the “source” that:

• messes up our hair
• takes the dirt/dust in the air and collects it on our cars,
• sends the pollen into our red, watery, itchy eyes.

It is also that thing which causes your little speeding golf ball to take an unruly path away from the hole on the green.

And you may remember the frustration of trying to fly a kite which is difficult with too little or too much wind.

For all the things we can blame on wind, I want to consider it’s positive force—how it makes you feel.  Whether you think of wind as in the concept of power or gusts or you think of it as a whisper fluttering the leaves, it undeniably has power like no other part of nature.

To me  it is the way I feel in the wind.  I know, scientifically, there is energy and power in the wind.  But to feel the wind as it touches my face and body, to let it drift over my mind and thoughts, just to see it moving the other elements of nature is so representative of a force greater than you and I.

It seems to have the ability to make my mind clear – like clearing out the cobwebs.  It actually affects my body & health.  It takes only a few minutes outside in quiet solitude before I feel as if I’d done spring cleaning in my  thoughts completely removing the problems and worries and enjoying the deep breaths I draw.

Regeneration is a word that reminds me of what “wind” does for me.

Let’s think about when wind mixes with a particular element–that brings on a whole new meaning.

• If it is snow blowing and swirling, then we have a blizzard;
• if it is sand or dirt blowing, then we have a dust storm;
• if it is rain that is moving with the wind, it may result in tornadic or hurricane force winds.

Sometimes those things bring us upheaval and disaster.  So the ferocious manner of wind is not to be ignored.  But think with me about the breeze and gusts that most often make up our day.

• The coolness of an autumn breeze;
• the snow moved softly by the wind;
• the pollen pushed forth by the blowing;
• the rain shower that blows upon us for only minutes.

Like most of us in the US, I’m awaiting those days that will soon burst forth giving us more pollen, more rain, more movement than has laid below our frozen tundra and iced vegetation.  As the Spring of 2014 drifts upon us in a few more days (weeks), I hope I will be able to appreciate what the wind provides for us and greet it with welcoming smiles.

Wind dusts off, cleans away, and refreshes the earth as well as our body.  The power of the wind reminds me the source of all wind (all energies) is controlled by my Creator and that God is the maker and purveyor of this earth.

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Scientific Information about wind:  For any of you who wish to read a “scientific Description” of wind, you may click this link.  It seemed to me to be very mysterious in its definition—a little like wind seems to me!  http://www.weatherquestions.com/What_causes_wind.htm

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For the wordsmiths among us, here are other words for wind:

breath  ♦  breeze  ♦  draft  ♦  ozone  ♦  puff  ♦  blast ♦ waft ♦

whirlwind cyclone  ♦  flutter ♦  cyclone ♦  flutter  ♦  tempest  ♦

typhoon  ♦ zephyr  ♦  ventilation  ♦  chinook  ♦ psithurism

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Wind has so many attributes and has often been used in music & poetry.

One of the songs about “wind” is represented in the1969 Hollywood film “Paint 
Your Wagon” (They Call the Wind) Maria (pronounced /məˈraɪ.ə/) performed by 
Harve Presnell.  Here is a video of that performance.

click here⇓

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The exact opposite of Maria is when “wind” brings us the soft, wistful thoughts.  “The Breeze & I are whispering goodbye…”  For those who want to dance in the breeze, I’ve included that haunting melody here

The Breeze and I - words by Al Stillman, music by Ernesto Lecuona
music written in 1929 as a piano piece called "Andaluza,"part of the Andalucia Suite
by the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona - words added later by Al Stillman - 
sung here by Caterina Valente, 1953

The breeze and I are saying with a sigh
That you no longer care
The breeze and I are whispering goodbye
To dreams we used to share

Ours was a love song that seemed constant as the moon
Ending in a strange, mournful tune
And all about me, they know you have departed without me
And we wonder why, the breeze and I
The breeze and I

click here⇓

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Here is a little known fact related to weatherology:

As mentioned, the song  “They Call the Wind Maria” was featured in the 1969 Hollywood film “Paint Your Wagon,” starring Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg.  It was George Rippey Stewart’s 1941 novel Storm, in which he presents the storm which is the protagonist of his story  and named it “Maria” (pronounced /məˈraɪ.ə/).

In 1947, Stewart wrote a new introduction for a reprint of the book, and discussed the pronunciation of “Maria”:

“The soft Spanish pronunciation is fine for some heroines, but our Maria here is too big for any man to embrace and much too boisterous.” He went on to say, “So put the accent on the second syllable, and pronounce it ‘rye'”

The success of Stewart’s novel was one factor that motivated U.S. military meteorologists to start the informal practice of giving women’s names to storms in the Pacific during World War II. The practice became official in 1945. In 1953, a similar system of using women’s names was adopted for North Atlantic storms. This continued until 1979, when men’s names were incorporated into the system.

Think about how the wind moves through nature and through you.