this day is different
pine trees and pepper plants dance
in the darkest winds

tears fall from the sky
beauty holds hands with the storm
spring azalea blooms

outside my window
i see tomorrow's blue sky
and the rain still falls


We saw an ominous three days in the south. Thunderstorm warnings. Flood warnings. Tornado warnings. Walking to each garden to prepare tomorrows food for the storm ahead, I feel rushed. I hear thunder in the distance, and I'm not sure, but I think I saw a flash of lightning. Any time now. I know that I should probably find shelter, but hear I am, mulching my tomato plants and surrounded by hundreds of tall pine trees. They sway for me though, and when I walk over to the pepper plants I see them dancing in unison. It brings some joy to me in this dark day. The sky so gray, seems like night time. Nature decided it's time, and the wind came telling me to expect rain. The droplets began to fall, and it would be only minutes until nature in its most chaotic calm would be all around me. The dogs and the pigs don't mind. The pigs rejoice at the water and new mud puddles.

Three days in a row I find myself rapidly preparing for something big. A storm. I am not sure whether the storm is the one raging outside of our shelter, or the one that is brewing inside me. Today there are blue skies, and it seems that Nature has moved her anger to some other audience for now. Yet here I am, looking at the sun from the sheltered side of my window, and I can't find a smile. I find tears swelling, as my own rain begins to fall. The storm that swept through Tallahassee has struck deeply within me and I feel that the storm inside me is just opening up. I have not sat in some time now. I have not written in some time now. Lost in this storm, I am wandering, hoping to not be struck by lightning. This is a reawakening. A time to uncover the deceit of my Self, and settle on my breath. Every day I work with and look to Nature to see the fundamental flow and breath of the entire universe, but at some point in recent months I lost track of my own breath. Attention to the breath allows the mind to let go of old perceptions of the self, and combines the body with the mind in action. I seek again to be one in action. It's time to continue my practice.