There's a stirring, haunting laughter that drifts through the trees, it plucks at the heart strings and makes you shake at the knees. It's music to feed the soul and stir the power within, it's the song carried by the Warriors in the Wind.

Go to the mountains to feel its delight. Listen to the songs there is no greater might. What do they say? When did they start? They stir memories and power hidden in our primal man's heart. You feel it when you breathe the cool mountain air, when the season's first snow lands in your hair. In the hunt when the signs say the quarry is there, when you find dinner has been caught in your snare. The relief in the morning when you are ready to start, and there isn't a lump, only a fart! At sunrise, with the first shafts of light, in the shadows around the fire in the darkening night. When a new child is horn into the clan, when the boy loses the child and becomes a man. When the spark of life ceases to be, and the spirit is finally set free.

There is a lesson in the songs that can be told, it's about how to live life in the wind warriors mold. If you want to be free right from the start, just do what you hear in the center of your heart. When questions arise there is no greater might, than to stand up and fight if you think you're right. For your family and those you reach out and touch, there is no such thing as loving too much. If times are rough with no relief in sight, just crack a smile and let in the light. Open yourself to who you must be, follow your own path if you want to be free. And give of yourself right to the end, that's what it takes to be a true friend.

The Warrior in the East Wind brings life with the light, the message is to live in radiance and do what is right. This warrior's song will carry you through all your years, it illuminates your happiness as well as your tears. As the light starts to fade and it's time for a rest, we hear the Warrior's song in the wind from the west. The song isn't sad, nor does it signal the end, it's about circling back to where we begin.

Listen, you'll hear laughter in the trees and feel it's power within, for there is another smiling Warrior Singing in the Wind.

Author Unknown

A tribute from the

Forest Service