Summer Solstice 2026—Whispering Pines

          There is a subtle shift in the wind this solstice morning.  I can feel a coolness flowing down from the high reaches where snowfields still give their precious water to the seeps and springs and creeks and mountain wildflowers.
            As the morning progresses, the breezes begin to whisper through the pines. A coolness from the North washes over the parched land, bringing a few clouds and the hope for much needed rain in the arid West.
            Those whispering pines are speaking today about change and transformation, both which begin as a nearly imperceptible shift in the air currents. They are unmistakable, however, to anyone careful and aware enough to listen to nature, to feel the early winds of change.
            The change I sense coming will begin to restore the balance between man and nature. It will begin to return humanity to a member of nature rather than the ruler of nature. And it will begin to place all people on earth on an equal and fair plane of existence. I relish this form of change. I live for this form of change.
            No doubt certain stages of such change will be violent and stormy beyond anyone’s wildest imaginings. But the world that will someday emerge after the storms will be a much finer world than our world of  today.
            So on this Solstice day  I take a deep, celebratory breath of fresh mountain air and remain ever so patient, watching and listening for the breezes whispering through the pines heralding the great winds of change.