high winds

The year has been filled with moments of extreme and unusual weather in North America and around the world. There has been lots of rain, cooler than usual temperatures and high winds. Privately, we have been tentatively blaming it on the tipping of the earth from major earthquakes. But I have done no research to see if weather scientists feel the same. Maybe it is global warming and maybe it is just part of a normal cycle of change. But whatever it is, the results have been unpredictable and destructive.

Yesterday my friend Laurie Buchanan’s community of Crystal Lake, Illinois was hit by 75 mile an hour winds which snapped and up root full grown oak, hickory, and maple trees. At the same time, Alison Elliot in North Carolina reported that the torrential rains had caused a slide filling her house with mud and water. Then there is Daisy Hickman in South Dakota who has been keeping us current on the Missouri river flooding. Another friend reported that my former home community of Prince George, British Columbia was also on flood warnings due to heavy rains and late snow cap melting because of cooler temperatures this summer.

With this kind of a situation, I find it important to focus on renewal and the resilience of ourselves and nature. Therefore, I am posting this grand maple tree as a focal point for our intentions, as trees are cleared and mud is cleared out and we go about creating a new normal during trying times. If you look near the bottom right you will notice another young maple coming up beside it – a grand tree in waiting.

Sprout Question: Do you have a special symbol or item that you use to set an intention for resilience?

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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

I awoke to rattling, banging and snapping at just after 1:30 am on Monday morning. No, it wasn’t a break-n-enter but high wind. Cones, branches and bits of whatever else were being slammed down on our tin roof from winds that were recorded up to 120 km an hour on a near by island. I could hear the roar of the wind high above the trees. The sound was similar to a large jet overhead except it never moved away – it just stayed there and roared. For the next four hours we watched and monitored as a cast iron chair on the deck was knocked over by large broken branch, the upstairs window was blown open even though it opens out and the trees bent and twisted against the force of the wind. Not surprisingly, the electricity went off at around 3:00 am.

When daylight arrived there was an eerie calm as sun danced across the debris, which looked rather mundane compared to the noise it made in its decent during the night. There was no serious damage. Our large fir trees were still standing though their dressing gowns of branches and needles were looking much thinner from the night’s engagement.

I had planned a painting day for Monday but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. We did what people usually do. We wandered down the road to see how our neighbours were making out and catch up on the extent of the damages. When we returned, it was time to fill the oil lamp and start the outdoor wood cook stove for an early dinner before dark.

My creativity was garnered to the task at hand – choosing the right wood for the cooking fire and setting the vent in the right spot at the back of the stove for the oven.

Our house stays warm for better than 24 hours without electricity because of the in-floor hot water heating and the thick strawbale walls. So we had our dinner, lit the lamp, and read some poetry aloud.

Then we crawled under the covers in the silence, broken only by the battery operated clock, to watch the stars in the still night. The storm had passed.

Sprout Question: When was the last time your creativity was needed in an unusual event?

My Cloud Biscuits…

CLOUD BISCUITS

Can easily double this recipe

2 cups flour
1 tblsp white sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (not shorting)
1 beaten eggs – very well beaten
2/3 – 1 cup milk (I usually use half whipping cream other half water )

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until coarse. Add egg and some milk to flour; mix all at once. Add enough milk to allow dough to be easily kneaded. Knead the dough a few times (not too much or will be tough – just a lick and a promise!). Flatten to about 1” thick and cut into desired serving size. Bake in 450 degree F. oven (or “HOT” oven in wood cook stove) until lightly browned on top… for 12-15 minutes.
Good luck!

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.