Le Mistral

 It was a hot wind from the interior.

Wet and windy Warrnambool was transformed over night to hot and dry.

And windy of course.

The breezes here touch the full range of one’s senses.

The typical ocean wind from the south brings the cool taste of Antarctica.

At the end of the day it becomes an evening breeze that calms what remains of the heat of the day.

The physicality of wind is at times striking.  Lane ways and alleys often hide a blast of air. Turning a corner can lead to a head on collision with unseen but lurking forces.

Walking home from the Aquazone (gym), I crest a hill overlooking the ocean about a kilometer away. I can almost always lean into the wind there and find a balance point of equilibrium with the world. 

I love to be slowed by the wind, be brought to a stop, and listen to the tales it whispers in passing.

My evening wallaby spotting walks with Ann are teased by memories of the Wind in the Willows, as little breezes dance through the grasses, and tug on bushes. Is it a wallaby moving about, or just the wind…?

Yesterday there was a new kid in town. Forty plus degrees of blast furnace blowing in from that mysterious hot interior landscape to the north.

The whole town warmed up to this new guest. Everyone was talking about him. Air conditioning turned on and waved a welcome. Even the birds were open mouthed in awe as he passed by.

And just like the wind he was gone. After a hot and sweaty one-night stand, a slight blush of sunburn on my previously fevered brow was the only clue left behind. 

The tease of summer is gone, no doubt to soon return and heat up and bring to life the memories it left behind.

Today, the unassuming but trustworthy local lad is back.  A comfortable, mid twenties spring day covered by a grey sky with patches of blue is gently fluttering through the curtains.

The occasional chill of being away during the holiday season is tempered by new familiarities.

The greetings of folks across the road, neighbors dropping off a card, and dinner out with new special friends melts the absence of family and home in a wonderfully warming way.