It Blows

I guess winter isn’t going to go without a fight.

We started the week out with a rain and snow mixture that turned to snow by Wednesday leaving several inches of the white stuff on the ground.  Then we shifted to milder temperatures before jumping up to early summer temperatures.  Lots of fluctuation between winter and spring . . . lots of unstable air . . . which seems to bring out the last trump card of winter—WIND!  Lots of wind!

Old Man Winter is blowing off a whole lot of steam today . . . ranging from a steady 25 to 40 miles an hour wind with gusts between 50 and 70 miles an hour. This wind is making the storm in the Wizard of Oz look like a walk in the park on a blustery day.  As hard as the wind has been blowing today it would only take a matter of minutes for Dorothy and Toto to get back to Kansas!  It has been nasty.

Now it is true that the wind blows on a fairly consistent basis in Montana.  Most Montanans are used to the wind blowing . . . but, this is not your typical daily wind.  This is a hurricane on land.  It has created quite a bit of havoc in the lives of everyone.

With the lack of moisture and high winds there is a perfect combination for fire.  Because there is a high risk for fire, the area we live in has been in a “red flag” warning for nearly two days.  A “red flag” warning is to serve as a reminder to those of us in it that the conditions are right for fires.  It doesn’t take much more than a spark around here to get a fire going . . . and, with this wind it doesn’t take much to spread it.  Twenty-six miles down the road in Red Lodge a fire broke out today closing the ski resort . . . last I heard they were still trying to battle it, but the wind was making that pretty difficult.  Down the road going east about another 26 miles a fire broke out in the Columbus area.  This one was threatening a subdivision, thus the people were removed from their homes.  That fire is stilling going.  Several other fires were reported.  It seems as if the fire season has begun early this year, and it could be a long summer.

The dry conditions have also created a lot of dust.  With the wind whipping dust around we have suddenly entered into a re-enactment of the Dust Bowl years.  Visibility is none existent in some locations causing road closures.  Interstate 90—a major thoroughfare through Montana—was closed down due to visibility issues between Columbus and Reed Point.  Poor visibility also caused a major pile up on the same interstate highway between Columbus and Laurel.  One person was killed in that accident.  It is also the cause of an accident that one of my sons and his social provider were in.  Luckily neither one of them were hurt, but her car took a beating as it was hit from behind because the other vehicle was driving way too fast for the conditions.  Yep, Old Man Winter is getting in the last few jabs . . . and, it blows.

Old Man Winter is just being a bully now.

Having spent many years in western Nebraska, I thought I was used to the wind.  Shoot, the wind used to be a big joke in Nebraska . . . but, this wind is no joke.  This is serious stuff.  A temper tantrum of the worse kind.  I have witnessed birds walking because it is too windy to fly.  Herds of tumbleweeds have been corralled by barbed wire fences creating some pretty unique art along the roads.  Trash cans have moved on down the street.  Trees have been dancing and swaying.  And, when one stands outside it sounds like a freight train screaming by.  Dust flies across the roads making it impossible to see.  I had even had to put lead weights on our two wiener dogs to keep them from flying across the yard when they have to potty. 

I do not know who the imbecile was who wrote that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb . . . Montana has some pretty vicious lambs!  I don’t know what that writer was drinking or smoking, but apparently he or she was not from Montana . . . but it must have been some good stuff.  Right now, we Montanans, could probably use a little of whatever it was that he or she was drinking or smoking.

Old Man Winter needs to give us a break.  True, we did not get our usual snow or winter . . . back east got that.  And, as much as we want to apologize to our neighbors to the east, we do appreciate the fact that Old Man Winter took it easy on us this year.  I guess we were not thankful enough for the old guy and now we are paying for it.  Dearly paying for it.  The wind is blowing hard out of the north . . . someone told me that was because Wyoming sucked.  I don’t know.  I just want the wind to stop . . . concede that it has lost . . . and, allow Spring to take its rightful place in the seasons.  Someone . . . please . . . offer Old Man Winter a little of whatever it was that that writer was drinking or smoking.  Old Man Winter needs to mellow out.  This wind really blows.

The Wind Speaks . . . Are We Listening?

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

(Jimmy Dean)

The wind always seems to blow between Big Timber and Livingston—it is Montana’s wind tunnel.  At times it blows hard enough that the semi-trucks on the interstate are blown over and the road is closed.  The locals in Big Timber joke that living in a wind tunnel is no big deal as long as you learn to lean into the wind . . . and, that you can tell when the wind has quit blowing—all the cows are lying on their sides in the pastures.  There is a lot of truth to their words . . . I just spent a day and a half in Big Timber . . . the wind never quit howling the whole time I was there.

Now Big Timber is not a usual place that someone picks to spend a couple of days for the fun of it, and I was not in Big Timber for the fun of it.  I was in Big Timber for a church meeting . . . in fact, I was there to attend the partnership meeting of the Northern Wyoming/Montana United Church of Christ Conference and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Montana joint board meeting.  We have been doing this sort of meeting officially now for a little over a year now.  This happens to be the weekend that I blew into town for the big event . . . and, the wind blew the whole time.

At the end of our meeting the regional minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) wanted to spend some time reflecting on the presence of God . . . in particular, she wanted us to name those times that we saw or felt the presence of God in our gathering.  Of course, there were the typical answers one expects to hear at a gathering of the faithful . . . around the communion table . . . in the worship service . . . in conversations with others . . . in the work that was achieved.  All good answers, but my answer to her question was possibly a Freudian slip or a wisecrack.  I simply stated that I don’t know if I saw God anywhere, but I sure heard God all weekend in the wind.  Of course, it got a good laugh.

Honestly, I was not trying to be funny.  It is just a curse . . . I open my mouth and funny things come out.  I really wasn’t trying to make a joke.

In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as “wind” or “like the wind”.  Those writers of the Bible made a good attempt when they attempted to describe the Holy Spirit—to describe God—as the “wind” or “like the wind” . . . because, it is like the wind.  Wind is a mysterious force . . . we are not really sure from where it comes . . . we cannot see it . . . it is mighty and powerful (Come on, it can blow semi-trucks and cows over!) . . . we can see its effects, yet we cannot see it . . . it is invisible.  We can feel it, but we cannot see it.  It is a powerful force.  Isn’t that the way God seems to work?  Like the wind?

The wind was blowing this weekend in the gathering of the faithful who joined together to form this partnership between two small denominations out in the middle of the Great American Frontier.  The question is: Were we listening?

For several years the two denominations discerned the idea of a partnership to bring together two similar, but difference groups of the faithful.  A little over a year ago, we made the decision to be partners.  Ever since, I content, the wind has been howling.  As with any decision, there were those who were against it, those who were for it, and everything in-between.  There has been rejoicing, and there has been lamenting.  Through it all, the wind has been blowing . . . and we stand in the wind . . . and, I think that we are learning . . . we are learning, learning to adjust our sails to reach for that destination we feel God is calling us to.

I think that we are listening to the wind.  I heard it in the statements of those who mentioned God’s presence in the ability to be the body of Christ where the different parts come together to be the whole.  I heard it in the statement of receiving the broken bread and the wine as we gathered around the table to share in Holy Communion.  I heard it in the harmony of voices joined together to sing in worship . . . many voices, one sound of praise.  I heard it in the tiredness of those leaving to return to their homes around the state; the work was hard, but the potential was great.  There was hope . . . there was opportunity . . . there was the kingdom to come.  Yeah, we were listening to the wind.  It was biblical . . . how can you beat that for weekend entertainment.  The wind blew . . . and we listened.  Our sails are set . . .