Weathering

Weathered by its maker before I bought it, the metal bird tree grows more beautiful as it weathers, cracking like dry earth, lifting rust into gray-blue, the color of winter sky.  People weather storms like this sculpture, surviving despite challenges, and folks sometimes feel under the weather, or "punk" as my father used to say.  Sailors weather obstacles by shifting course to avoid them, and according to the Oxford dictionary, falcons weather when they perch on their "block" for a long time.

Whether by storm (tempestas) or by time (kairos), we all weather like my bird tree, cracking and creaking and weakening over time, but look closely at old skin, and think of the storms it has weathered, and see its beauty.