As we attempt to walk upright during our windy days, we hear many comments from natives to the effect that they have never seen the wind blow this hard before, or that it has never blown this late in the season.

 Well, just how many years do we have to live here to know that it can blow harder and that it may just blow the year round?

We just really don’t want to admit that the weather is really getting on our nerves and that we wish we’d have several quiet days in a row. Those breezes can cause more tension than many of us can deal with without losing our good dispositions. We may be eating a lot of grit, but we are also grating our teeth to the point of jaw breaking pain and are ready to lash out at anyone or anything that gets in our way.

When we sit over our morning coffee and watch the shingles flying off the motel roofs along the highway, we are aware that the wind is a little stronger than usual, but we
also know that it will slow down before the last shingle is gone if all goes well. We just need to practice the patience we talk about when we have run out of other subjects with which to get one each other’s nerves.

When the car doors become major weapons, we also know the breeze is just a little stronger than usual and that if we had any sense at all, we wouldn’t be outside on such days.

Many of us are just plain thankful that we don’t have to be outside doing the  numerous chores once demanded of us.

Actually, I was very fortunate because most of my chores had to be performed in the canyons, and I was out of the wind, but I did have to go on top to get feed for the milk cows and often had to go out into the far corner of the pasture to find those beasts in order to be able to milk them and give them that feed.

Those were tense times as I much preferred to remain in the canyon and go without milk for that day, but my parents weren’t in agreement with my preferences at all times and that long trek had to be made amid gnashing of teeth and eating more grit.

We now go into the elements through choice and often don’t make the wisest choices. As natives greet each other through clenched teeth, we remark that only natives would be out in such weather. Those people who are new comers know better than to be tossed about and just remain indoors during such blustery weather.

Of course, we natives  are also the ones who wander around town after a snow storm to check on the depth of the drifts or splash along the streets after a hard rain to see if water is running in any of the creeks on either side of town.

We may be found stuck in some of those drifts or making crooked tracks in the mud because our natural curiosity sends us into the elements to check on the latest happenings. Besides, we need to have news to tell each other the next time we meet.

Those stories get better as the winds become stronger, and we begin to recall other years during major dusters. We recall watching cattle walk across fences because the sand had stack up atop the tumbleweeds to provide those bridges. We recall being unable to see as far as the hood ornament as we drove along and always wondered just where we were on the road.

Our stories actually are based on all too much truth and too much true grit we have eaten through the years.
Yes, we know we are home when the wind is blowing!