"Stormbound....."

Some may see these times as epic, others as frightful, even as such poor weather that our adventures would surely be ruined. Safety is primary, adjusting always necessary, and then we are gifted with something more... When we are stormbound we slowly learn that this can also be a mystical and magical time...
I remember... Deep winter camping among the frozen lakes and dark forests of the north during a wild winter storm. I wondered if the wind could get any worse and if the tent would truly last. A long night it was. But the crisp morning vistas were so very beautiful. A calm after the storm as can only be found so far north among forests now blanketed in perfect white snow and frosts...
I remember... Days out on the Continental Divide, and rain that was wind driven so hard it seeped through our tent walls. Ominous dark clouds that rumbled and spoke of the power of the sky. The anxiety over potential lightning made those stormy moments last a very long time. Yet the rainbows after were like none we had ever seen. Rainbow upon rainbow, caressing almost every summit into the distance...
I remember a difficult weekend of climbing, then a raging river raft the very next day, the white water moving at a speed unexpected. A good thing as an even bigger storm was coming. When later in our tent at a higher elevation, and even when clearly safe, the rolling clouds, angry winds, pounding rain, and the grumbling of thunder felt so very, very close. We were bound by that storm for many hours and then were greeted by peaks painted so beautifully by ice and sleet...
I remember... Sea kayaking among our west coast islands just after a passing gale that beached everyone. The sun may have been out but the waves were still rocking and bucking like none I'd ever experienced, and we just had to try and ride them out...
Let's take a moment my Friends, to pause, and rest, and reflect over the immensity of nature and the power within the elements you have successfully navigated out there before... There is an energy that may be found in dealing with our stormbound experiences, that we may draw upon when needed during other such trials... I am so looking forward to being stormbound yet again out among our wild places..... DSD
My appreciation dear fellow wanderers for sharing these images with us.