Some things some wise people have been teaching me:

fear can be a powerful kind of optical illusion which at times prevents us from seeing one another at all
you can only be loved to the degree that you are known
our judgements and fear-laden expectations of people limit us even more than they limit them

and

if you desire to see more life; invitation, welcome, rumour-whispering, tour-guiding and gardening are better practice than any effort to bring about change - not least because you will unquestionably find more than you were able to seek
(although whether we alter how we seek according to what we do find is another question altogether).

In consequence, summarily, and by the way, the winds here have wrenched so many spider-rooted gnarled oaks out of the ground they have broken up the old earth and there are rooves smashed in, cables snapped and fences strewn along the wayside - if the weather was a woman she would of course be arrested but as it is I feel that she expresses almost on our behalf something we cannot.