One Fine Windy Day

Hot, dry high winds all afternoon. So odd. The light green maple leaf underbellies showed all day long, a sign my grandmother always told me meant rain was soon to come. Multiple branches litter the yards, and clusters of live green leaves are strewn in the neighborhood streets. This is an unusual wind--unusually strong, unusually long-lasting. Something is blowing in. Yes, there are tornados in the upper midwest today, but here there is not a cloud in the sky. This wind is hot and mysterious, as if something entirely different is being conjured. And this evening, even though the humidity is low, the sky appears dusky as if the air is full of moisture.

In the normally humid summer of this area, today's mere 42% humidity is an oddity. I drank a half gallon of iced tea. In an attempt to take advantage of the drier air, I tried to hang laundry on a wooden rack in the back yard, but no matter how I oriented it to the wind, the entire rack of clothes would end up collapsed. The wind has been strong enough today that I saw very few birds or squirrels in the yard; normally I watch 6-9 squirrels and countless birds. They are hunkering down. I'm sure it's just too much effort for the birds to fly, and who knows what the squirrels are thinking?