Thoughts From Dr. Joe: The winds bring forth adventure
It’s typical of us to take the wind for granted. But we are consumers of normalcy and pay little mind to the sheer power of the elements until at some point we are made to notice. The wind rocks our world.
Last week La Cañada and the greater Los Angeles area was pummeled by gale-force winds of up to 70 miles per hour. However, at Whittier Peak, located north of Castaic along Interstate-5, wind velocity reached 115 miles per hour. The weather grabbed our attention. Reuters reported uprooted trees, downed power lines, schools closed and apartments and homes damaged. The wind does not discriminate; it can touch everyone.
Although it deals with occasional earthquakes, Southern California is not accustomed to the severity of natural disasters that other parts of the country experience. When the major channels here broadcast a “storm watch,” to describe two days of rain, it becomes apparent that the reporting is grounded in sensationalism. However, last week the residents of La Cañada earned the combat merit badge for enduring the winds of early December.
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Winds are caused by differences in the atmospheric pressure. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from the higher to the lower pressure areas, resulting in winds of various velocities. Our storm was caused by the high pressure along the border of Nevada and the low pressure of Southern California.
I am drawn to the elements. The sheer power and unpredictability of weather is an aphrodisiac. In ’73 I did a stint as a storm chaser. Although I was a novice chaser, I partnered with three friends from the Near Westside of Chicago and headed to the heart of Tornado Alley — Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. Storm chasing is an irrational endeavor with motives of photographing or videoing storms, sky, land and magnificent views. The mystery of not knowing what will unfold, the quest to undetermined destinations on the open road and intangible experiences such as feeling one with the powerful natural world are euphoric.
The wind has a distinct mythology. Every ancient civilization had many wind gods. The wind god of the ocean, the east, west, north and south all have distinct powers. Both the New and Old Testaments comment extensively on the wind. Deuteronomy 31:6 tells us to be strong and courageous during the elements because “God goes with you.”
In the movie “Paint your Wagon,” the song, “They Call the Wind Mariah” takes on a mythical persona. “Mariah blows the stars around and sets the clouds a-flying.” Then, the lament of the universal man, attempting to bridge the malaise of loneliness sings, “I’m a lost and lonely man without a star to guide me. Mariah blow my love to me. I need her here beside me.”
John Muir, the noted naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, often wrote about the intensity of weather. In an essay titled, “A Wind-Storm in the Forest,” he explained his personal experiences surviving the perils of nature. The inherent dangers involved in the pursuit of hazardous weather, lightning, wind, hail and rain brought him in touch with the divine.
“I love storms,” he wrote. In his essay, Muir tells of his experiences of climbing to the top of a tree and riding it for hours during a wild Sierra windstorm. He writes, “the danger to life and limb is hardly greater than one would experience than crouching deprecatingly beneath a roof. Never before did I enjoy so noble an exhilaration of motion.”
I encourage you to Google “The Norton Book of Nature Writing” and read his essay. You might then understand my contention that the wind is more than just wind.
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JOE PUGLIA is a practicing counselor, a retired professor of education and a former officer in the Marines. Reach him at doctorjoe@ymail.com. Visit his website at doctorjoe.us.
