I was born in love with breezes!

I’m happiest when there is a steady breeze coming at me from any direction. I delight in the feeling it gives me when my hair is everywhere in the wind and the air I’m breathing is as fresh as a new born morning. 

I get lost in all of that and it is the best feeling. How could I be sad when a gentle breeze is dancing around my face.  How could I be upset with the world when I’m in the middle of a mighty wind.  All I can do is feel!  And it feels glorious to me. 

If I can’t be on top of a mountain or at least a hilly knoll, then let me stand on a balcony or a deck and be carried away by gently or not so gently moving air.  And if I must be inside, then I want the windows open…all of them if possible. Even in the rain I ease strategically placed windows a few inches upward to get a cross breeze. 

I can still see the frustrated look on my dad’s face when he would tell my teenage self for the umpteenth time in the middle of winter, to “Close that window, Linda Beth”. 

I need fresh air like I need my heart to beat, like I need a cold glass of water on a scorching afternoon in August.  

It clears the cobwebs from my mind and blows the bad away. 

And it turns out it is also a pretty good remedy for severe infant colic. 

The story as told by my precious and patient mom was that I cried a lot as an infant, probably colic, but who really knows with infants.  

And the only thing that would calm and quiet me in the wee hours of the night was fresh air, specifically, powerfully breezy fresh air.

We lived in a rental home right beside the railroad tracks and it seems my absolute favorite thing was when a train would rumble by, providing all the wind one could stand.  I would transform from all out, ear-piercing crying baby to a face full of smiles and baby giggles. 

Mom said as soon as the wind hit my face, I would utter happy baby sounds like “whee-e-e-e” over and over again. It was as if an internal switch was flipped and whatever ailed me was immediately put to rest. Eventually the comforting sounds of the train and the air it produced would lull me back to sleep and give my parents a much needed break…until the next night. 

Thank God for the B & O Railroad and those miraculous tracks that brought the breeze to a tiny spot and a tiny baby in West Virginia. 

One of the most magical places I have been in my adult life is on the top of a mountain In West Virginia, called Middle Mountain.  

I think of it as God’s perfect combination for love… love for family, friends, and if you are really lucky, forever love. 

There’s nothing like lying on a blanket surrounded by the intoxicating scent of majestic pines, and feeling like you can reach out and touch the night sky…it’s that close, full of stars and the wonders of the Milky Way.

The moon is brighter on Middle Mountain. The air is fresher.

And the breeze…the breeze is pure, clean and enchanting.

If you’re with the right person… you can’t help but fall in love. 

Forget the Fountain at Tiffany’s…this is THE number one romantic place for me and it’s all about the air. 

I think if you took your troubles to that mountain and spent time on your knees with God, the trees, and His holy air, you would come away a different person. The air alone would clear your head and heal your heart. 

I’m always looking for a cross breeze, ready for the wind to do its work and breezes to move the spirit inside of me. Sometimes I feel like a waterless wind surfer…poised to take the next wave of air.

To this day breezes bring me the feeling of calm, peace, and quiet joy. They have been God’s gift to me for over 70 years now. 

He has opened windows in the middle of winter all my life and given me moments of outlandish grandeur in the midst of chaos and pain. 

I have lived in perfect peace with just the tiniest lifts of His wind and His breezes. Holy Air…Holy Spirit!  That’s a mighty gift. 

I am forever grateful. 

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Excerpt from “The Wind Song” by Shirley Erena Murray

“Never seen, ever known

Where this wind has blown,

Bringing life, bringing power to the world,

As the dancing tongues of fire,

As the soul’s most deep desire,

So it is with the Spirit of God.”