The golden light lingered endlessly on across the over ripe grass, barely noticing the clouds brewing themselves into a hug black bruise. Silently the dark energy gathered, a whisper rolling in unseen from the edges.
The angry clouds blustered in triumph across the sky, and the summer sun was suddenly gone. In swept the wild cold wind of the storm, and trees bowed in surrender as the land was lashed. All through the night she was relentless stripping branches of their summer rags, snapping limbs and plucking tiles from innocent roofs. In a final act of revenge she whipped random objects up into her swirling cape, never to be seen again on earth.
Happy with her work she sighed out, and let the golden sunbeams peep through her dark clothes in little pools. The air came to rest once more, but winter had left her calling card loud and clear. She was back, and biding her time….
Can you enjoy the wild energy of the storm, or does your mind drag you out of the moment and forward into the days to come? Autumn seems to be a time when many struggle with the thoughts of the winter and the darkness to come. Yet we don’t really know what winter will bring us. It’s a time for turning inwards, a time to slow down a little and reconnect with ourselves and our inner world…..but perhaps that where the real struggle lies.
Try connecting with the wild winds sweeping across the land today. Stand with your arms outstretched and feel its energy tugging at your clothes and hair. Watch it swirling and rippling through the trees and grass. Feel it’s insistence that you stay right here in the present moment, just for a little while at least, amazed by its energy and power. She’s a wild woman the Cailleach of Winter, but she’s full of surprising wisdom and beauty.
breathofgreenair 
I join in with the others – your gravatar is mysterious and looking for More…Nicely done!
Your words and colors match ethereally . . . and your new gravatar is so you – YOU ethereally
Awesome post!!! The photos, always! The words … even more so. That last paragraph in particular really speaks to me. You describe so well what I have felt … standing in the wind, arms outstretched, feeling the energy.
Seonaid, your prose and images are beautifully evocative. Your narratives for Mother Nature never fail to touch exactly what I’m thinking yet could never articulate. You really should try to get published :-).
I love storms and winter and fall and, well, all the seasons! Winter especially, though, for it’s the best time for woodland hikes and really seeing our world stripped down.
Well done. Thank you :-).
Thanks so much Sharon, what an encouraging comment…..I’m not sure I would know where to get started with getting published…..but writing a book I suppose would be a good start 🙂
Until then there’s the blog, and I love sharing this way!
swept away by your fabulous cloud shots
magic!
Glorious, stormy shots.
I do love a good storm Fi 🙂
Fabulous and dramatic photos and prose, Seonaid. I could imagine the strength of that wild wind, just reading your amazing description. That’s a really beautiful suset. 🙂
That’s great praise, thank you….to bring a scene alive in the mind of a reader is I think the aim of all writers and aspiring writers 🙂
That sunset was magical….I cheated a little as it’s from last September, but it fitted the theme of my post so well….and it’s good to share such magic.
Your photos are dramatic and spectacular! I LOVE the change in Seasons… especially Fall and Spring… they cleanse my soul! Thank you for sharing your beautiful world.
It’s always my pleasure to share Gywnn, and it’s so lovely having wonderful people like you read and comment 🙂
The changing seasons are such a gift aren’t they….a chance to renew and refresh in many different ways.
We had such a storm roll in yesterday as spring and winter dance their own special battle. Today all that bluster and heaviness is gone and the sun pours down. We also had a sizeable earthquake yesterday so it was a day of elemental forces.
That first photo in your post is stunning, utterly stunning. Thank you:-)
Isn’t it wonderful to think of all the transitions happening across the earth at any given moment. I can only imagine the added drama of an earthquake in the middle of a storm. Wild earth energy indeed 🙂
I can never resist golden sunlit grass across a dark brooding sky….it stirs something deep in my soul! I’m glad you love it too, thank you.
Blogging offers such close connection to our similarities and experiences. Nature was in command here yesterday and showing its total beauty and peace today.
Perhaps the photo touches are awareness of the light and the dark sides of our good selves or maybe the simplicity of observing the light in its many forms.
The light and dark within ourselves is an interesting thing to ponder as the external balance of light shifts. Sometimes we can find treasure buried in the darkness….
Wow … look at all those comments … sorry I’m late to the party! I really enjoyed these photos Seonaid … very dramatic. I also liked your invitation to embrace the change in seasons. There’s not much we can do to stop it is there? So, yes, I do have my arms out-stretched … waiting to embrace change … its predictability and its (hopefully) little surprises. Bring it on! D
Embracing the change is always the best way forward….whatever it is that’s changing……and I love the image of you and Joanna out in the wild wind with your arms outstretched 🙂
Delighted you enjoyed my dramatic interlude David, the energy at this time of year gets into my bones, and so I’ve been very busy getting things ‘sorted’!
Hey … I also forgot to mention that I like your new Gravatar. Makes you look like an internationally renown writer. Sort of has an feel of mystery too. D
Well internationally renowned writer was exactly the look I was going for!!
Perhaps the gravatar alone will jump start my new career, without me having to do any actual writing….here’s hoping.
Actually I was trying to go for a bit of mystery….it mists over the crinkly bits 🙂
I wonder if I might have encouraged you just a tiny bit 🙂 Love your cheeky new avatar!
Oh I think you have encouraged me lots in so many ways Gilly!
As for the avatar, the old one was really very old (7 years ago!) so I thought it needed an update….and cheeky and playful was exactly how I was feeling the day I took that selfie 🙂
Lovely drama here!
Thanks Sue….I was feeling a tad dramatic this morning 🙂
🙂
What a beautiful new gravatar!!
Thanks Rosa, I was having some fun taking selfies….and then added some effects to blurr and brighten….that helped a lot 🙂
You are beautiful anyway :P, look at those wonderful hairs, and the ‘mirada’ 🙂
What a beautiful reminder to focus on the moment: a reminder than I can’t get too often! Thanks.
Oh I need to remind myself often too, but on a day like this it’s easy….there so much drama to experience 🙂
I believe those of us who live with strong, contrasting seasons are lucky to do so. We can learn from them as you say, and draw energy from the dynamics as each shifts to the next.
I couldn’t agree more Penny, I love the drama of the shifting seasons….and just as we begin to get a little tired of each one, the year turns and we move into something else….very lucky indeed 🙂
This is a magnificent post. I love little more than to stand and let the wind take me to myself.
And I love that phrase….letting the wind take me to myself…..just perfectly said Michael, thank you 🙂
Nice. All good, but mark photo one as a favorite over here.
Thanks Bruce, I can never resist golden grass contrasted with low stormy clouds 🙂
I love all the seasons but I love the stormy representation of each the most. A storm captures my attention and therefore, even though I may be snug inside, I am more in tune with elements than when all is calm outside.
That’s so true Esther for me too. The drama and energy of the storm is so enchanting and filled with drama…..always wonderful to experience with all our senses…..it holds us here in the excitement of the present 🙂
Stunningly evocative pictures Seonaid! Dramatic to say the least.
I was having a dramatic morning Caro!
Delighted you enjoyed the photos 🙂
Amazing photos and thought provoking words. I do not look forward to winter mostly because I miss spending hours outside every day feeling the wind and sun, hearing the birds, and enjoying nature. But, I have material bought and am back to quilting to keep positive and moving forward. 🙂
I can understand that Judy, but I must confess that I’ve almost had my fill of the garden and it’s chores for this year. I have some vegetable beds to sort out, and a huge bonfire to burn……a greenhouse to clear out and some pots to move indoors for winter….and then I’m almost done! I love the fact that my to do list gets a little shorter in the winter when it finally comes 🙂
My mother-in-law is a great quilter, I’m not sure I have the patience, but I love the results!
I felt a shiver as that storm cloud crept over me, Seonaid! Or maybe it was the rain pounding the window behind me 🙂
Another beautiful and evocative piece. You have the soul of a poet. That last photo is too beautiful for words.
It was a wild storm for sure Jo, and the woods are looking a little worse for wear this afternoon! Delighted you enjoyed my storm drama, while sitting through the real thing! The last photo is a bit of a cheat as it’s from last September, but the light was so beautiful in real life……I’m sure you can imagine 🙂
Great images and powerful thoughts. I totally agree with you. There is nothing quite like the wild woman of nature to make you feel fully alive
She’s great isn’t she, pulling away at all the certainty, teasing our sense of having things sorted 😉
The energy in a storm definitely lets you know you’re alive!
Absolutely 🙂
Thank you, Seonaid. Such dramatic weather (which we haven’t encountered just yet this autumn), and a wonderful reminder to be mindful as we go about our day. Maybe that mindful state can allow us to see the beauty and benefits of something (like the weather) that is usually simply complained about…
I particularly enjoyed the light in your photos, which in my limited experience with my new camera, is so hard to capture 🙂
The weather is a perfect example of something often complained about and seldom just experienced. When it’s sunny everyone starts longing for coolness, when it’s wet we want dry, and when it’s dry we want rain for the garden and our baths! The season too are a way in which it’s easy to only look forward to wonderful spring and summer, and miss out on all the wild a beautiful variety which is autumn and winter. I love that I live in a place where we roll through such a variety of conditions….it keep sings interesting, with something new almost every day 🙂
As for your camera….your photos are beautiful.
Your lively description will help hold me until we get some weather 🙂
You have no weather John?
Well I’m delighted to share some of ours 🙂
I love the light
Thank you, storms can give us such a wonderful mixture of clouds and light 🙂
Such dramatic images and words that match our overnight storm! Love this. x
Thanks Kellie, I couldn’t help myself with all the drama of the wild wind swirling around the house this morning…it left me feeling a tad dramatic myself 🙂
I was a bit scared, tbh. Our giant oak – that obscures our house on Google view (or whatever it is called) – was creaking like anything. Today is not much better. Still, we are warm and dry inside.
Lovely pictures Seonaid! The view from Reraig is always truely breathtaking I find. So is mine towards the Five Sisters….
It’s a truly stunning part of the world, especially when there are storm clouds and sunshine 🙂