Sometimes a change in the ordinary can wake us up and ask us to pay attention. The rainy and cold weather we are experiencing today is out of the ordinary for me. The weather has pulled away from the ordinary sunny, low humidity winter day that I remember from years past. This is the time of the year we usually refer to as our drought. It’s a gentle rain outside not the downpours we get in the summer. This feels more like fall in northern California where I’m from. Maybe from the viewpoint of a longer timeline this weather is not that unique to this area. But for my short ten years here it is.
Last year I was giving talks about the Wood Storks because so many of them were nesting. This year they decided not to nest because there wasn’t enough water this summer to fill those pools they rely on for their aquatic diet. There were a few cold days last year t hat I remember but most of those days were warm even hot. There’s water now but not much life in them. Remember, there was a freeze.
As I look outside, a flock of cedar waxwings cover the oak tree and I hear a catbird in the distance. The light is dimmed but the sounds outside are enhanced. The greens are greener and the contrast is perfect. I feel like I’m in one of those ancient Chinese landscape paintings. The low clouds have the appearance of distant mountains and images appear and disappear. A good opportunity for a walk! Who knows where I’ll end up?
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