WIND

The description of March— “In like a Lion, out like a Lamb” BLEW UP yesterday. I can take about any kind of weather… except for wind. When I moved to Arvada in 2017, I was warned about the brutal spring winds. Forewarned is forearmed. Yesterday tested my limits. I don’t like to use the word hate. It needs to be reserved for the likes of Putin, assault rifles, or the Dallas Cowboys. We had continuous 80 mph winds all day yesterday. There were some measurable sustained gusts over 100 mph. I said out loud as I was trying to get out of my car while my doors pinned me in, “I HATE WIND”!!!

I have nothing against a nice breeze or even the occasional gust that signals the arrival of a Colorado thunderstorm. The lifeguard at the APEX Center where I swim said, “This wind seems apocalyptic”. We both looked up to the structural steel roof that encloses this huge complex of ice rinks, gyms and three swimming pools. I looked at her and said, “This is where I hope for great engineers”. She was not convinced.

I often refer to my 11 years of living in San Luis Valley. One of the constants there is the late afternoon winds. It was explained to me that this is a function of cool air moving down and warm air moving up, to and from the Valley floor. They are predictable, and never last more than an hour. They are winds, not hurricane blasts of dirt and trash that pepper your car.

Now, I have to speak up for wind. Without wind we would perish. Wind brings moisture, clears out bad air, and is good for flying kites. I don’t think there is anything quite like a load of laundry that has been put out to dry on a clothesline, which has1w been bathed in sunshine and touched by a breeze.

I think I have ‘exhausted’ … all I have to say about wind.

Onward and Upward,

Mark