The Weather

Write Down the Bones Deck to Free the Writer Within — This is my wish for you: that you take these cards, grab the topic on one side and write, write, write. Then flip to the other side of the card and take note.

I’ve always used the word topic instead of prompt. Prompt is the starting place, but topic indicates more the idea of plunging in and immersing. Natalie Goldberg

Weather is the topic

We are not in the tropic

Sunday was -10 below

how is that for a low

Hubby was out snowplowing

piling it up with the wind blowing

he stepped away from the party

to take care of the snow, he's hearty.

"All of the sadness in the city came suddenly with the first cold rains of winter." (A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway)

Write about weather. Natalie Goldberg

Winter is a beautiful wonderland. Why? Because I can look at it from the house or car, or on short walks outdoors, bundled up in warm clothing that take the chill out of the air. We are prepared for winter. I carry a ski pole, and have boots that are just right for snow and ice.

In Minnesota, we have four distinct seasons. Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter begins in about November and ends mainly in March. Spring the snow melts, the ground thaws, and we see life growing up from the ground, the trees begin to bud, new life is cherished. It is from March to June for many years.

Summer is for swimming and picnics and tanning for some. It is as early as May and is as late as September. Fall is from August to November for many years.

Last year our winter was a disappointment for many as we had less snow, which was a big impact on snowmobiling and skiing. Our snow season started later this year. Only this month has the hubby riding his snowmobile.

Many people were grateful for the winter last year as it wasn't as cold, meaning less money was spent on heating costs. Fall came later this year and stuck around for a while. It was beautiful.

This line is in the first chapter of Hemingway's Paris memoir. You might never have been to Paris, but you can feel that rain - cold and penetrating at the beginning of a dark season. Especially in the context of climate chaos, weather is important. Urgency exists. Weather impacts everything else; it always has but many of us had the luxury of being nonchalant about it. Whether you want to write something political or remember that Midwest storm, the land under un-moveable snow for days - the extremes all are important. Also noticing the ordinary sunny or cloudy or hazy afternoon is important. Write what you remember about hail or mid-March thawing or a place of constant tropical heat. Make it personal. Explore how it impacts you. For Hemingway, all the city's sadness was connected to that rain. You know he walked through it for blocks to reach a cafe to write - and probably drink. It was immediate for him, even if he wrote about it decades later. It's immediate now too, and important. Natalie Goldberg

How I am affected by the weather: In the late seventies I was in a group of women, meeting with some elders who came down from the Canadian Tar Sands. They talked about the importance of our work for our families. They clearly stated that the water is in trouble!

My children were small, really babies. Now one will be 50 this month and one is 46.

Then the women went on to talk about how our work as women is to save the water for our families and for future generations. They said it isn't just the Indigenous women's work it is all women's work. We are the caregivers of the water.

They said that men can help but they don't carry the water. We do. Then in the 80s, I started to attend full moon ceremonies where Native American women gathered.

Prior to 1978 in the US, we had no religious freedom, making all of those gatherings underground. They started to come out from underground but it was slow going.

In Minnesota, some water walks started bringing attention to the water being in trouble, then the water ceremonies started. The photos of the Mississippi River above come from a water ceremony that has been going on since 2012. Most photos and information are located on Nibiwalks on Facebook.

The ceremony is Ojibwe, but all women are included, not just Native women. All people are included. At these ceremonies, there is prayer and song.

What does this have to do with the weather? We meet weekly in all weather, and have been meeting for many years now. We learn about what it takes to get the word out. This effort has spread throughout the world, right along with information about climate change and so much more.

We learn about recycling, reusing, repurposing, reducing, and refusing.

At times we hear from activists and others who have learned about the importance of our ceremony. We hear about the water walks happening and the upcoming water walks that some of our regulars will attend.