Thursday, March 30, 2006

Tornadoes, Wind and Fire

Hutchinson has had wind, tornado and fire today. My home is fine and suffered no damage of any sort, but others were not so lucky.

As of a few minutes ago, the fire has been declared under control. About 5,000 acres on the east/north side of town burned.




The wind snapped a light pole in half, leaving some businesses without power including Wal-mart and Applebees at times.




The Kwik Shop Headquarters on 4th street had windows blown out. Conklin cars lost a sign and some car windows. At the hospital about 150 cars had windows blown out.

The sirens went off a bit after 1 p.m. There didn't seem to be much to worry about, and there wasn't downtown where I was. However, other parts of town were having some difficulty.

Fortunately, there was no loss of human life.

Memories Blurred


"Memories become blurred by time and the overwhelming number of life-changing events we encounter." Myrlie Evers-Williams

My NAACP magazine, "The Crisis," arrived today. The issue is largely devoted to Coretta Scott King, as one would expect. The backstory section was written by Myrile Evers-Williams and begins with that sentence.

Both of those women lost husbands to assassins - certainly a life-changing event.

But it made me think about the life-changing events we all experience. They're not a purview of the well-known by any means. We are all touched by events that completely change our lives and how we function in the world.

I had not thought about how those events blur our memories, but they do. Over time it all becomes a bit fuzzy about what happened when and how it all came to pass. Maybe for those who have experienced a large number of life changing events it becomes difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. I have certainly felt that at times. Interesting thought.