My family property in Hatcher Pass, Alaska February 1, 2025

Northern wind roaring and whistling.

Slithering, swirling, twirling, and curling.

A guttural eruption stemming from the mountain peaks.

Soaring, racing, and pacing across the river bed.

Growling and prowling through the canopy.

Witnessing larch and birch bend in new ways.

A bountiful wrath is ancient and wild.

Interrupting and delaying the folk of the land.

We light candles in honor of High King Aeolus guardian of storms.

We gather an altar to honor the ruler of each wind’s direction.

Boreas is the cruel ruler of winter, ice, and the northern wind.

Zephyrus the ruler of the west bestows spring, hope, and warm breezes.

Eurus ruler of the east ushers in endings, autumn, and rain.

Notus ruler of the south bequeaths summer, with sweltering days, fog, and floods.

Humanity humbly bowing to the might of the cardinal directions.

May Boreas’s latest unrelenting visit to our vast valley be forgiving and brief.

In the depths of his grip, the wheel of the year slowly turns.

The presence of Zephyrus is welcomed with the lengthening sun.

The season of warmth a yearn for the soul to unravel.