What Swirls in the Air?

Online writing salon this morning. Prompt #1 was "What Swirls in the Air?"

What Swirls in the Air

Inside 

I am warm as I watch

trees and bushes shake in the wind

Birds glide high to low

I see their wings move

up and down

as they rise again.

High, low, glide, flap.

I watch as

a piece of paper 

jumps across the grass.

I watch

orange and yellow leaves swirl, 

settle on the ground,

Shiver and dance

when a gust of wind catches them

just right.

I can't see the air but I know it is there.

Outside

I feel wind beat against my face

My eyes blink,

dry.

I taste dust

in my mouth

gritty.

I inhale air

cold and crisp in my nostrils

I blow my breath out through my mouth

Inhale, exhale,

Puff up,

Blow it out.

This is how I live.

I chase leaves,

I chase life,

I walk a path to see

the wind create ripples in the water.

Air,

Wind,

Swirling,

I am alive.

Where to next?

 Prompt: Picture of a dirt bike parked next to a trail. Caption was "Where to next?"

Where to next?

Where to next?

It's a good question,

a reasonable question,

asked by someone who knows me well,

They know I won't stay rooted for more than a few years.

I used to stay longer

But, well, I'm older,

I no longer have the luxury of overstaying

a bit 

just because I can.

I don't have

enough years left.

Where to next?

I'm not sure,

I sometimes think about it

But I know it isn't time.

Where or when?

It's usually a feeling 

that decides it's time

and searches for a place.

And then

an opportunity presents itself

and I'm afraid that if I let it pass me by

It won't come back again.

That's not an unreasonable fear.

I was stationary for too many years.

It was my choice

and maybe not so much my choice.

Family.

My family.

A husband, 

children, 

a house we called a home.

The question of where to next

wasn't about a physical place,

then.

It was a question for the future,

a question I couldn't answer

because it wasn't the right time.

A question I asked myself

when I was in a bad place.

Now I ask the same question

because I am in a good place.

Where to next?