calm before the storm – Jennifer's Journal

When I step outside, the midday air is frigid and preternaturally still.

I don’t need a forecast to know a windstorm is brewing.

The weak December sun shines through a thin milky veil,

giving zero warmth to my upturned face.

Billowing white wisps of cloud skirt the horizon.

Their gentle symmetry belies what is to come.

I see my breath float in the cold tranquility

as I stand on my frost-covered deck,

scarcely believing it will be +5C by morning.

Nothing moves.

Nothing makes a sound.

Peaceful, but…

…an eerie sense of what is impending looms,

a premonition of the gathering gale

far out at sea..

…and with it, the inevitability

of this quiet calm

vanishing by nightfall.