That’s what they call the wind, so the song says.†Out on the Colorado prairie we have other more colorful names for the winds of spring.†Recently, the wind grabbed a hold of our chicken house door and whammed it open, breaking the glass.†I practiced muttering some colorful language and stooped to pick up the fragments.†That’s when it happened.†Imagine one of those desperate movie scenes when everything goes into slow motion.†I spied a hen and before I could stop her – “Noooooo!” – she had darted in and swallowed a shard of glass!†Ahh, wind.†Not all the wind’s fault though.†The chicken is an animal so stupid that if she looks up when it’s raining, she’ll drown.†That chicken still lives and seems fine.With cold, then warm and then cold again weather that accompanies the wind, one can be tempted to sit on the deck on a rare warm and calm afternoon and enjoy the fresh, clean air.†We did just that recently, then remembered a quick errand we needed to run.†Trouble is we forgot something else.†Driving back home as we approached the house, we both wondered: “What the heck is that thing?”†As we came up the drive, it looked as though a dark, greenish giant bat was crouched on our roof and attacking the chimney!†We’d forgotten to put the deck market umbrella away.†The wind had taken care of it for us.Every spring we can count on the prairie wind.†The wind is up and strong when our relaxing “Tonal Meditations” Zen wind chime sounds like a fire alarm!†And this spring the wind has brought us a last blast of winter’s cold.†Cold weather means that soon my sweetie will be making a crackling fire in the living room wood stove.†She sits in front of the stove, fiddles and fusses with it and gets a fire to glow within.†Then she turns and faces me and I grin.†”Why are you smiling?” she asks me.†Oh, I make something up about the cute spring time birds outside, but I’m really smiling because in the process of coaxing our wood stove to life she has apparently rubbed an itch near the base of her nose.†My sweet blonde lady now sports a jet black Hitler moustache.†How long she keeps it depends directly upon my ability to be cool and stifle the giggle.†It’s hard to take blonde ladies with black Hitler moustaches too seriously though.And how about those birds?†We are told that they migrate here in spring, but I’m sure our spring wind is responsible.†”They don’t migrate, they’re just blown here!” I declare.†A couple of weeks ago we had a ferocious south wind for a day and a half.†When the wind died down a bit and before it could start up roaring in the other direction, I went outside to admire all the new birds that had blown in.†Wow, all kinds of new spring birds from the south had arrived.†What a relief to have that howling south wind come to an end.†I figured if I found any dazed and confused penguins staggering about, I’d just gather them up for the zoo.With all our new spring birds delivered by the wind, I’ve been passing myself off as quite the ornithologist.†Now all those big ones you see? Crows, magpies, hawks and the like – those are “birds.”†Robins, mountain blue birds, mourning doves and such are considered “birdies.”†And the tiny ones like chickadees, pine siskins and chipping sparrows I have designated “popcorn birds.”†Have you ever noticed how they hop around on the ground looking for seeds?†What do you think they look like when they do that?To live on the high prairie we must learn to love the wind.†Living with spring winds, winter weight gain can be handy.†One can be too thin.†Step outside on a windy day and you may find yourself whisked away and stuck in a barbed wire fence along with some stray plastic shopping bags!†But the wind does good in heralding warmer summer days to come.†Climate is what we expect and weather is what we get.†Our spring winds bring rain, snow and eventually summer.†The wind deposits the neighbor’s trash cans, kiddie pool and small children in your yard, giving you an opportunity to go meet them.†A good thing after all.A final word and request: Should you find something of mine blown into your yard and come to bring it back, you may be rewarded with personal mirth.†When you knock on our door and a blonde lady with a black Hitler moustache greets you, thank the winds of spring for that humorous moment, but please stifle the giggle. It means a lot to me, thanks.Tom Preblelongviewranch@gmail.com
