I’m patio blogging tonight, as the tail end of that weather system that brought a snowstorm to Denver (and perhaps the season’s first snow to the East Coast and back home in New England) brought a tiny thunderstorm and ten minutes of heavy rain to us here in Gilbert, but, better yet, a cool and windy night. The palm trees are rustling away, the wind chimes are a’tinklin, and you can breathe deep the clean air under happy pineapple lights.

I’ll bet if you ask most people there are few nature sounds more popular than wind in the trees. Doesn’t matter what kind of wind – or what kind of tree(s), for that matter – it’s the whole sense of God’s creation in movement all around you that invokes a deep appreeciation for nature and our natural surroundings.

I love the sound of wind in the trees; probably next to distant thunder on a still, muggy summer afternoon and the sound of the ocean rushing to the shore, the sound of wind blowing conjures a sense of calm and tranquility that’s hard to match. I remember as a child during Hurricane Donna the wind whistling and moaning loudly through cracks in the window panes. Or being on a cruise ship deck late at night and the hearing the frantic sound of the ship’s flags or runners flapping in the wind. There are rounds of golf I find decidedly forgettable, but I can remember playing certain golf courses up in New Hampshire and pausing to hear the wind stirring the tall surrounding pines with that lovely wsoft whooshing sound. Or, in the dead of winter, a cold wind rustling dry oak leaves and cauing a chill to run down your spine. Or, more pleasantly, sitting outside on our hotel patio in Bermuda listing to the palm trees and pines rustle while thousands upon thousands of frogs created a peeping backdrop symphony.

Of course, not every wind sound creates a pleasant feeling – for example, the sound of sleet pelting your windows when you know you have to get up for work in just a few hours. Or the sound of trees cracking of breaking in a hurricane or a heavy wet snowfall. Fortunately, those don’t happen enough to jade the pleasures that the sound of a nice wind in trees bring on a breezy early Autumn Arizona evening bring.

Tonight is just a nice break from the incessant run of dead calm, warm nights we’ve had – amazingly, there’s not even the hint of a scent of dust in the air tonight. Now that’s something worth celebrating!