For two nights in a row now, Mother Nature has lashed southeastern Wisconsin with powerhouse thunderstorms – as if to remind us that for all the ways in which humans dominate the earth, there are certain forces that are much bigger than we are. . . and weather is one of them.
The night before last, the storms actually touched off a tornado or two in this corner of the state, to the point where Racine County was actually actually under a tornado warning at one time. I found that out just as I was leaving Kenosha Pops Band rehearsal, when Kathy called me on my cell phone to essentially order me to return home as quickly as I could safely do so – and I drove home to the accompaniment of the most spectacular lightning I have ever seen in my life. It would have been pretty cool if it hadn’t been so scary.
I walked into the living room to the sight of my wife, our two golden retrievers, our goddaughter Anneka, two of her friends, and the Barrows’s darling chihuahua Gracie. . . all camped out in front of our television set, watching coverage of the storm. Anneka’s folks were both out of town, and she just didn’t feel comfortable being home with bad weather barreling down on us. So between all of the blankets, chex mix, and candles, we had ourselves quite a lovely slumber party. And it really underscored how good it feels to keep company when each other when life gets a little bit scary.
By the way, one of the most amazing moments as we watched the storm coverage was when a reporter from channel 4 was talking to the fire chief up in Eagle – a small community which was hit hard by a tornado. As this man was describing the damage sustained and how several houses had been leveled by the twister, he added rather matter-of-factly “… including my own.” A few moments later, the reporter asked if he had heard that correctly – and he had. The way this firefighter spoke so calmly about the destruction of his own home was truly astonishing. There was also a heart-warming moment when a young dad (holding his young son in his arms) described the destruction of his house- but then with great sincerity expressed such gratitude and relief that no one in the family had been hurt. “Things can be replaced,” he said – “but not each other.” It’s neat how in the midst of this kind of adversity, we often see human beings at their very best.
pictured above: watching storm coverage. Notice little Gracie on the young man’s lap – and our golden retriever Ellie lounging on the sofa like she’s Cleopatra on the banks of the Nile.