Storms

The wind is howling outside my bedroom patio.

The rain is coming in loud torrents.

Rivers have been rushing over banks, flooding streets, closing highways.

The last two days have been historic in Missouri with the Governor issuing a State of Emergency on the second day of rain, the second day after Christmas.

Plans have been altered, travel was harrowing through Oklahoma and Texas.Missouri,  Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi have all been dealt nature's hand.

This post-Christmas storm that has drenched the first and second days of Kwanzaa is like life.

It may have been spoken of in passing, rain is supposed to come, but is unexpected in its delivery.

This is more than rain, it is a torrent, washing away already fragile ground, met with gusts of unusually warm weather and an atmosphere that seems to not know the season.

Life is a lot like the low visibility, high fog, pelting rain that is hitting the glass.

When it comes, it comes full force, those storms that will eventually pass over, that will eventually calm, that will leave things unsettled in its wake,

But like this storm, life sometimes needs the plan-shattering-weather to reshift and reshape.

The best thing to do is just ride it out, safely, not afraid of the force of the wind, but respecting the moment it is passing.

Inside, secure, but listening, waiting, and paying attention.

Because like life, the storm can shift and rumble and blow the house down.

Then, the rebuilding, and hopefully, it will be better, stronger, and more sustainable than what the water washed away.