Ghost Wind

 Kissed by . . . .???

 Have you ever been standing or sitting somewhere not paying attention to anything in particular, maybe daydreaming, thinking about what you need to do when you get back home, or smiling to a memory of some special person?  Time is just a glimmer of recollection from another place, when suddenly you are overwhelmed with a chill and tremor that feels like it went right through you.  You get goose bumps, and the shiver racks your body and you look around to see if anybody is looking.  There is no doubt in your mind that someone just walked over your grave, as the old saying goes.  There is no tell tale physical explanation for the phenomenon.  No breeze, wind, noise,  bird poop on your shoulder -- nothing for you to explain away the sensation.  Yet we, just shrug and say something trite --'jeesh, somebody just walked over my grave' and laugh it off not fully realizing how close to the truth it really is. 

You -- have just been kissed by a Ghost Wind.  That perpetual energy that caresses the world with its graces as a reminder that there exists a realm that the ancestors, those who have gone before us, populate and that most of us know little of or care to learn about.  Each time we experience one of the reminders, we have been touched by the ancestors in a gentle, caring, way that lets us know they are with us even when we choose not to acknowledge them.  It is their desire to guide us through the tumultuous journey that comprises our life.  We would be better served if we just accepted the truth of it and stopped ignoring the obvious.

I have been unusually gifted by Ghost Winds in my life.  I did not pay much attention at first.  I just thought that everyone experienced them.  Then, over time, I began to realize that I had more of my share than others seemed to have.  This all came to light during my music career.  One crisp Fall day, I was sitting with friends and fellow musicians at a music concert that happened to be held on the Stockbridge - Munsee Indian Reservation  in Bowler Wisconsin when I experienced a particularly intense "reminder" that interrupted a serene, peaceful reverie.  A Stockbridge elder, by the name of Mr. Moon, looked over at me, smiled and said, "you have good Ghost Winds, you are one of the fortunate."   I had no idea that I was any different than anyone else and soon learned that I wasn't.  I was just more in tune to them for some reason.  Over time I have learned to rely on the Kiss of the Ghost Wind to remind me that the natural forces of nature permeate my art, shape my designs and influence my creations.