I have come to realize that my favorite weather condition, out of all the amazing ones out there, is when it is windy. There is something so calming about hearing the trees talk as the wind whispers through them. I guess in a way it reminds me of a forest, which is and probably will always by my happy place, in my head. Bridge to Terebithia affected me much more than I admit most of the time, but I have always thought there was something magical about forests and what you can imagine in them. Right now it is a little bit windy: enough that when I gointo my front yard, I can hear all the trees in the neighborhood talk, and each has it's own, individual voice. The palm tree has a very tall sound, since they are usually so far above my head. The neighbor's tree has a very leafy sound, since there are so many leaves on it. and our tree? well, it just blows with a slightly higher frequency than our neighbors because it has much smaller leaves than the other tree.

But there is so much more to wind than how it sounds in the trees. There is the feeling of it on your skin as it rushes by. You are being touched by something that was far away from you not long before. And wind almost always brings relief from the heat. No matter how small the breeze may be, it always feels better than nothing. But the smells the wind brings are also fantastic. The best time to smell the wind is when you are in a more isolated spot, not in the middle of the city. You can smell nature how it was intended to be smelled, in all it's un-doctored state. But even if you don't have a chance to go outside city limits, wind brings the smell of change, of rain, or of whatever is around you. I imagine that is why dogs stick their noses out car windows into the 40+ mile an hour wind. To smell the changes they are traveling into, and to cool down from the hot stuffy car.

I don't know about you, but wind makes me feel powerful, and limitless, and capable of doing anything I want

to do. I think that's why I love sprinting so much. Besides the fact that I can feel how hard my body is working and yet how effortless the motion comes, sprinting gives you the ability to create your own wind, even when none is there. You can feel the air moving past your speeding face and playing with your hair as you whip through it. perhaps the air isn't coming to you quickly from a far way off, but you are taking yourself to the air a far way off rather quickly.

my favorite thing to imagine as the wind blows past me though, no matter if I am making it myself or it is coming to me, is the idea of flying. and I normally don't imagine it with wings, although when I do, I imagine it feels a lot like how running makes me feel: you are working hard, but at the same time the motions come effortlessly. Even gliding in the wind sounds like it would be glorious. Looking up at the

sky, it seems like if you could fly, there would be no limits to what you could do. There is nothing up there to block your way from going exactly where you want to go, and sometimes there seems like there is a lot less time to the sky then there is to the land. The sky stays pretty much the same color all day, it's only once you look down at the ground and see shadows that you realize time has passed at all. I imagine flying feels a lot like the wind whipping past you, boundless space and energy, and endless time. But like Bridge to Teribithia, I don't often let on how much Peter Pan's ability to fly has stuck with me. Peter Pan himself is an inspiration of sorts: he stays a boy forever, and does have a care in the world. He relies on magic to keep him safe, fed, and amused. and best of all, he can fly better than anyone I can think of! I guess I could say, I've never wanted to grow up. I realized pretty early on that growing up requires a lot of responsibility, and I'm perfectly fine being irresponsible. There's always going to be a part of me that will want to be with Peter in Never, Never Land, or in any other of my childhood books that captured my imagination, instead of growed up and taking care of or in charge of projects and such.

That's what wind makes me think of and feel like, and I love it that it is windy out and I have a chance to go enjoy it while it lasts :)