ME III: wind storm

· Maine Event

What a strange hurricane, Hurricane Lee was/is. Very early we got a tiny amount of rain and then all day relatively intense winds that really whipped the giant trees around. Winds are 20-30mph with gusts 40-50. It is still blowing hard, all day, every minute and it's a dry wind. In 2021 Hurricane Henri was very moist and a little muggy and the wind was very uplifting and wild. This is dry and more like "fire wind", like the Diablo wind only drier and more gusty (at least compared to SF).

Okay, so my book report is on, Awe, by Dacher Keltner states that "Awe is the emotion we experience when we encounter vast mysteries we don't understand". They have done a bunch of research on how experiencing awe leads to better health including physical, mental, and societal health. Their research across 26 countries them to eight categories of awe that people expressed (these are in the order or prevalence): 1) "other people's courage, kindness, strength, and overcoming" 2) "collective effervescence" This has to do with collective events that move us such as weddings, graduations, coming of age celebrations, sports, funerals, political rallies and such. 3) "Nature" and the wonder of that including great beauty as well as natural disasters 4) "Music" from rock groups to religious music 5) Visual design such as buildings, terra cotta warriors, jewels, and such. 6) "Spiritual and religious" awe. 7) "Life and death". 8) "Epiphanies" when we suddenly understand essential truths whether philosophical, scientific, mathematical equations, insight into human relations, and so on.

I'm about halfway through the book but they are exploring the research and what they have learned and how experiencing these things has shown that people have more compassion, are kinder, happier, etc. when they have more awe in their life. A piece of it is about discovering awe in ordinary daily life. Find more awe!

Anyway, I'm having a good time reading it and the sunsets among other things are pretty awe-inspiring.

Gray morning with gusty winds. Through the day they got more intense.

Because of the high winds and because we were working today there were only a few pictures. We did get a couple of walks in and went looking for birds amongst the trees who were talkative in the wind. Here are a few from last night from the island that didn't make it from my phone to my computer yesterday for some reason.

Portland skyline as viewed from Peaks Island.
Casco Bay reflecting the intense sunset
Ever changing
And to close out with one more of the teens diving off of the ferry dock. It was quite chilly.

With any luck the wind will have stopped tomorrow and it will be a glorious day. The plan is to get up early and head to the island and then come back and work.

Have a wonderful evening!

Love, Tawnia

Despite the wind, 14 bird species. And in the Eastern Cemetery, we did see a raptor, maybe a Cooper's Hawk, but looked a bit like a Peregrine Falcon. Nearby was a nest in a pine with a (not visible) squeaking youngster.