All night, the big wind blows. At times, the whole house seems to lift a little as the wind finds its way through every slat and crack. The trees are rocked hard, the dirt flies in the distance, and the animals sleep unperturbed.
Living in Kansas means living in big weather: large gestures from the sky as change passes through. Yesterday's 70+ degrees will be tomorrow's freezing rain. "Nothing lasts," the weather seems to sing, shout and whisper, but all the same, I love listening to this wind that surges and drops, halts and powers on again.
While big changes can happen any time, there are months when such happenings accumulate to a screeching point, and March is such a month. Whether it's lamb or lion, elephant or amoeba, March days and nights turn on a dime. Because of our non-winter winter, this March feels especially volatile. Why, there were tornadoes in February, and we've already had one prairie burn and may have another one later this week, a month ahead of schedule. Daffodils are springing upward, not yet blooming thankfully, but I did dream of hyacinth in blossom, large and fragrant in their timelessness. Yet the weather -- always the weather -- can deep-six anything that bursts forth or just lull along as if the air is always quiet and balmy. We never know.
Natalie walks by and tells me, "It's getting pretty wild out there, Mom." Yup, it is, the sky preparing itself for a 40-degree drop later today as it reminds us that it's pretty wild in here too.
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