weather

The weather has been the topic lately. Nova Scotia is in a historic drought. Constant sunny days and no rain for months now. Makes me grumpy. I need some good stormy weather and grey days, as it feels like it gives me the permission I need to relax and be cosy. All this endless sun and beautiful weather make me feel guilty for, I don’t know, not running triathlons or something. (like I ever would..hahahaha).

There are days indelibly marked within that we remember the weather. September 11, 2001. The sky that day in New York.

I remember the weather, twelve years ago today, October 10th, 2013, in the Bahamas for the first celebration of life for my son. It was stormy and grey and totally unpredictable. With what felt like hundreds of people coming for the service, it was a worry as it was outside. But I loved it. A beautiful, incredible rainbow came out. It was the magic needed on an unbearable occasion. October 19th, 2013, was the second celebration in Nova Scotia. The most incredibly crisp, stunning blue sky fall day ever.

I’ve experienced really bad hurricanes, and then I would worry from afar about my family and friends in the storms and especially the most destructive hurricane, Dorian in 2019.

Wind can still unsettle my system.

Being the partner to, and then the mother of, surfers, knowing their lives are predicated on the wind, swell, and storms. What looks like a nice day to the rest of us can be met with derision and scorn to surfers if there aren’t any surfable waves.

Drought here has caused wildfires and people to lose their homes and livelihoods. It is a tense situation with people’s water wells running dry and no measurable rain in sight.

AND…. It’s Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend. Beginning of the long holiday season. Which is hard on grievers. Hard on those missing their loved ones, or lonely, or in unfavourable circumstances.

While there is certainly so much to be thankful for, we are also living in extremely anxious times-considering the wars, the uncertain political climate, the cost of living pressure, and the slide into terrible authoritarianism with our neighbors to the south. All of it is true at the same time.

Life. We can hold so many opposing things at once. The gratitude, the pain and sadness, the hope, and the despair. It’s complicated. It is human.

Be kind to yourself. There is a lot right now.

On we go,

Hilary

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