When I was little, my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles used to say "You catch your second wind yet." "Yeah." Of course, being a child, and a quite literal child {which I have solemnly tried to overcome during these past few decades since that very same childhood}, I'd lie awake at night and listen to the wind blowing.
Being young and literal, I spent many daylight hours planning how to catch that second wind. I did not know this thing about holes in the roof. {The very same holes being the cause of a few nights without supper for me and my siblings.}Thereafter, I would lie awake at night listening to the wind through holes that shouldn't have been there. I was glad to hear them in the quiet of the night wondering which was the second wind. Next step was how to catch the wind. Now, here was a pickle. Then, I'd watch my grampa, dad and uncles leave the house with traps and come back with food. I'd watch them clean, set up and store the traps. I asked a lot of questions regarding the making of traps, what they were for, etc. Finally, someone showed me how to make a snare. This, of course led to more nights without supper. My one regret was that I couldn't think of a way to get the snare upstairs without my parents seeing.
Winds were hard to decipher. I'd think "Is that the first wind?, Is that the second? How many have there been already?" I'd think about the wind blowing at supper time. Of course, being without electricity for the first five or six years of my life meant we went to bed when the sun went down. I head up the stairs to the attic glad for the opportunity to find that second wind. About halfway up, the wind got loud. Is that the second wind? This perplexed me as long as we lived in that particular house.
Then I started school, the place we were supposed to learn things. Great! I'd finally find out what "second wind" was. It was getting more and more important to understand since adults were now asking us: "You catch your second wind?" "Yes" "Ho. Good." resulting in unease as we weren't supposed to lie. Yet....Yes was the only answer I ever heard.
I learned many things during that period of my life when I'd happily wake up and get ready for school. By the time I entered 7th grade {the big school cause all the big kids went and got to ride the bus}, I had a vague idea of what "second wind" meant, a meaning gleaned from books, including the ones censored for children as they invoked questions adults didn't want to answer. {"Beka. Shh" induced silence of the body, not the mind.} This only added to my dilemma.
Then, I read a book for a paper due the next day. Ha! A description of "second wind" in the very first chapter I read. All became clear.