The Wind

The wind has returned to the marina. The long hot lazy days of summer offer an enjoyable offshore breeze but wind in the rigging, howling, whistling wind always returns in the fall. Haunting, eerie and welcomed. I don’t remember when the wind stopped, sometime during the first week of June I’d guess, but the return of real wind is a wonderful reminder that fall is here, which made me think about all the other sounds I think are awesome.

Rain at Augusta National during Masters Week.

The Beach any day. You just got to be there.

Blue Sky Basin Vail, CO at 4 PM in January. The wind against the spruce and fur trees and the snow under your skis.

LAX International terminal at Midnight the silence.

Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the calliope of mankind’s drunkenness.

Turn 4 at Lowes Motor Speedway during the final lap of the Coca Cola 600 it’s hard to say whether the crowd or the cars are louder.

The Freight Apron at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International during the 2AM push. The rise and fall of jet engines on departing cargo and FedEx flights. There is something symbolic about that sound and then the stillness. I don’t know what but symbolic just the same.

Breakfast at the Fairmont in New Orleans during an early morning thunderstorm in July. It’s the sound, the feeling of the big easy, linen and china, a slower pace that’s even slower when there no reason to hurry. The hotel has since been silenced by Katrina.

The arches at Union Station St. Louis at Mid Day Christmas week. If you don’t know I’m not sure I can explain. If you do know I’ll let you whisper it to me.

Sea Buoy at Bar Harbor Maine on a foggy night in October.

An 800 foot container ship passing under you while standing on the Ravenel Bridge at high tide. If you haven’t done this you are simply missing out.

The marina is alive with sound, dock lines pull and creak against the tide, masts are slapped in a staccato beat by halyards, mast supporting rigging humm, and a palmetto flag stands straight before the approaching storm.

The wind is everywhere.