Wednesday Flat

i need to move someplace cold. it's cold now were i am, but not as cold year round as i would like it to be. we don't get snow. we don't ever really need to chain tires. the city shuts down for an inch and a half. i want a blizzard.

i know i am not alone in my love of storms...the wind, the rain and, if luck permits, the taste of raw electricity in the air--the dry, tingling anticipation that sits on a not quite locatable part of your tongue when lightning is inevitable--it makes me happy. don't get me wrong, i love where i live. anyone who has relaxed in a moss rainforest while intermittent thunderheads drench the green canopy but don't quite ever block out the sun so it seems the leaves drip with emeralds from the reflection of the soft, thick, natural carpet you recline on...or letting the leisurely current spin you in molasses circles, changing the view with every gentle revolution--first soft rolling hills stripped of trees by some ancient fire, but not of grass that undulates beneath the caress of he subtle breeze, making the hillside look like water should while the river emulates polished glass--with another turn, cliffs topped by gnarled evergreens crowned with the occasional lookout tower/cradle of twigs and feathers--because every kayak should have a pillow to inflate in the back half in between bowls and chutes. living in the northwest is fantastic in so many ways and i would be lying if i said anywhere else will ever really be home, but my wanderlust calls me.

there is a special kind of quiet that you can only find when everything is covered in a layer of fluffy white. the sounds of footsteps, tires, voices...even your own...don't carry. everything is still. unless it is really coming down--sideways--in a full storm, where opening the windows is a fruitless endevour due to the snow piled to the roof for a month or two. i need a change of scenery.

next week, hawaii!