11.13.2003: The Time of Winds
One phenomena that has always facinated me is wind. Does that seem odd? Usually when I say that out loud people look at me like I just said I found fingernails fascinating.
The thing is, when I think about wind, I think that it's really just made up of air. And air is such thin stuff that as you move around in it while it's standing still, you don't even notice yourself constantly running into it. You bluster through it, knocking it out of the way, only to reform in a dizzied mass behind you. You 1, Air 0.
But when air decides it wants to be somewhere else, it can flex a little muscle to get where it's going. It can pull down trees and structures that would stand if you threw your weight against it all day. I'm guessing wind is one of the leading causes of death in trees of all age groups.
I was thinking about all of this yesterday when we were hit by a major wind storm. The guy on TV last night was going on about equalizing pressure gradients and such, but all I knew was the air was exerting a lot of pressure all over town--equal, gradient or otherwise.
Driving was especially interesting. Coming off the island where I work I had to stop in the middle of the viaduct bridge over part over the part of the Mississippi that seperates arsenal island from the rest of Illinois. Would have sworn there was a high school football team trying to rock my van and tip it over.
The encounters just got weirder from there. First I drove through an area where something about the dip in the road and the trees on either side created a vortex, a two-story mini-tornado of autumn leaves in the middle of the road.
Next came the garbage can slalom course. From home to another errand I saw something I didn't at first really recognize. It looked like someone had erected an 8 foot wall across the oncoming lane. As I got closer I discovered it was the twisted remains of someone's trampoline, standing on its side (I assume it started in a backyard; did it go over a house?) Past it there were about 6 cars and a bus lined up behind it, trying to decide if they could go around or try and move it. I imagine they must've wondered "if I run into it, will I bounce off?"
But the most surreal sight of all had to be the large plastic wading pool that was skitting along a downtown sidewalk. Although there were open lots on one side and the street on the other, it was doing a fine job (for a swimming pool) of staying on the sidewalk. My jaw dropped as I watched it cross the intersection at the crosswalk with the light. I wish it well, wherever its journey takes it.
And I suppose the same could be said of the air. The air I run through and that runs through me today was probably in another state yesterday and will be elsewhere tomorrow. And I'll just ignore it, until it tries to push me around some more.
Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while. -- Kin Hubbard
