Today is Earth Day

And the wind is pushing
Whipping
Howling
Grit in the air
And whooshes in the ears
Batten-down-the-hatches-kind-of-weather
A True-Winnie-the-Pooh-Blustery-Day
Weather Alerts wailing on phones
“Beware zero visibility,
Stop and pull over,
Be safe.”
Today is Earth Day
With yellow sky
full of western dirt,
California and Arizona,
Mexico and Japan,
flying overhead,
In my face,
tumbleweeds and topsoil
in the air.
Feeling it come
We tidied and tightened
Tucked away and toiled
To limit damage and loss
Chairs resting under dirt pots
Toys returned to boxes
Anything we didn’t want to sail away
We made safe.
As the wind pushed and pulled and whispered
“Newness is coming.”
Dirt, dust, and tumbleweeds
We rushed to water
Our dry garden beds
Watering deep to strengthen
Our tender greens and carrots
Locking up the chickens
And glancing at the heavens
The persistent wind
And the push to respond.
Today is Earth Day
Tomorrow will be 
wind-blown branches,
For another day’s much needed mulch,
with garbage to collect
And much to repair.
Gratitude and fresh air.
Today the wind will give and take.
Tomorrow we have commitments to make.
Today is Earth Day.