Well, the kids are off at school, the little one is still asleep, there’s a slight humming to the refrigerator, I can hear the delicate sounds of birds chirping – probably thrilled that the rain stopped and the smell of my Go-Go Juice is finally waking my senses. Good Monday morning to you. It’s been wet and soggy here in Ohio and sadly, Mother Nature has taken a toll on our southern states with over 54 tornadoes tearing through towns, especially Mississippi where 10 people were reported killed. There was a time I could not understand why people would live in these areas. I guess you really can’t avoid the killer twisters – they can truly pop out of “nowhere” unexpectedly. I must say, in all our travels from coast to coast, we’ve been fortunate to only encounter a few minor scrapes in barely getting hit by such winds.
Once while traveling through Colorado in its far eastern borders (where most funnels occur) we out ran a tornado while traveling west bound on the hwy. While we never saw the funnel; the radio was reporting the distance to our location and all we could see was solid black clouds that touched the ground up through the sky, hail and bellowing winds. It stayed right behind us for 30 some miles while I pushed the pedal to the medal. We finally pulled off to a gas station where all travelers had stopped and the storm suddenly turned to head south just short of the station. Whew! That was close one. And, never say “oh, well I live around hills – twisters don’t come around hills”…that’s bunk; we lived in Vermont up in a resort area surrounded by hills and a tornado funnel hit the ground on the other side of our hill, and we watched how it headed toward us with its high winds and black mass just pour over our hill and within minutes, the center of the storm passed right over us. We were living in multi-level condo at the time and ran the children down to the bottom level. The sound was amazing and scary at the same time. No funnel though – but then, its elements were just as damaging as if there were a funnel.
What you see on TV appears to be horrible when reporters show the aftermath of a tornado and listen to the interviewed survivors. You may say to yourself, “how sad, wow, man – etc, then change the channel”. But nothing will compare to the devastated feeling of driving through a leveled town that had been recently hit. While driving to my job two years ago from California to Ohio, we did just that. We were in Oklahoma and while creeping along the roadway, the tears just rolled down our cheeks to see the losses and feel the pain. Shattered glass, wood, leveled buildings, tossed furniture, peoples clothes, kids toys all strewn across the town. I always thought people were crazy to live in these risky areas, but you know what? It takes a special type of person, someone proud, and someone strong and determined who is passionate about their area to stay up with the tides. The human spirit was strong and thriving among the locals that day; the survivors had already set up plans and were working hard at putting their town back together. People worked together in harmony, collaborating, teaming and all contributing to bettering each other. And suddenly I realized something – people who live in such areas are not a people who thrive on worldly possessions. It’s not about the storm or how wide a tornado was or the 15 minutes of fame from being on TV – it’s the comradery, the fellowship, the union of spirits that attract and bind these people together. They have huge backbones, are hard workers and the ones we count on to generate our dairy, grains and produce. These are amazing people with amazing spirits and believe me, their Go-Go Juice does not come in a cup or a pot or sold at a nearby shop – it is their faith in each other and maybe a higher being that drives their passion.
So, on this rainy Monday or sunny, depending on where you are) keep these people in your thoughts, say a prayer and if you have some time, go lend a hand and be sure to share your Go-Go Juice with others. You know there’s plenty of Go-Go Juice to go around. Have the most productive week this week. Thank you for joining me this morning!
No comments:
Post a Comment