Out of Our Hands

I have always liked extreme weather (as long as no one gets hurt). Blizzards, black-sky-at-10am thunderstorms, rain that floods the streets. Snow that makes it impossible to tell the ground from the sky. The electricity in the air before that first clap of deafening thunder. Last summer I went outside and did some yoga stretches right before the weather service announced a tornado warning. It's weird, maybe, but I love severe weather, summer and winter.

In a strange way it comforts and relaxes me, in my exceedingly controlled and scheduled life, to be forced to acknowledge that some things are out of my control and truly beyond human control. When it decides to snow and snow and keep snowing and the wind decides to blow 30 MPH, it's out of our hands. Schools, businesses, and courts close. Everyone stays or goes home. No one goes out for dinner. No one goes shopping. The roads become deserted. And, for just a little while, it feels like the world stands still. I find this to be very peaceful.

So, tonight we cuddle up, enjoy the out-of-our-hands feeling and hope that March really will go out like a lamb in a few weeks.