Tornado @ MindSay

our mind playing tricks and putting together some strange drama in our sleeps for its own amusement. Sometimes though, they're not. Sometimes they're more. Mine always are. I warned of a tornado once. I was just a little girl so no one believed me, and even though Mamma thought there might be something to it... She was killed by it just the same. Her soul was taken right up into heaven, right up into the clouds. Her body was dropped right back down though. And my Daddy, I dreamed of water the night before our wagon turned over on him as he tried to cross Logan's Creek... in the deep part. Not all are sad though... I dreamed of a young man with a fire in his eyes and a fine will to live. Couldn't make out his face, but the very next day I was introduced to my own Tyler and I knew right then that we had met in my dreams, and that he was the one mint for me. And he was. Those dreams I understood. My dreams now, I don't. Four nights... all in a row. Same one, I'm just flying... through the clouds lightening in the distance but I can feel it shooting through me... floating through clouds full of water, but none of it would fall... and I reach out into the clouds but all I come away with is dust. Don't know what to make that. At least I hope I don't. Then... the clouds... they turn to steam. On my face I can feel it... and the rumble of a locomotive engine throughout my body, and this rumble shakes me so hard it leaves a whole where my heart should be... but there's nothing there now... my insides are all gone. The train whistle sounds like a scream... and there's something familiar about it...


GOD I LOVE THE PLAY THE ORPHAN TRAIN

I searched for love but I found only pain

I taste the truth but I only caught the lies

 

Theres a tornado hitting today. My grandma thinks its neat. yeah thats my grandma for ya. Shes got 4 friends over to play cards and they all said, "Okay if the tornado hits we'll jump on you." lol.  Its gonna hit at 6pm tonight.  Right now its only been thunder and lightning. Kinda freaking out. cause its me. lol.  So, i kept a bunch of CDs here instead of bringing everything to college and i found my Zoegirl CD. and so i've been listening to this thing all day.  Wow. I dont know why i didnt bring this one with me.  I had a good talk with Jason last night on aim.  He said hes gonna come pick me up and take me to the mall to hang out. and I said "If you dont mind... i wear jesus shirts." and he said, "Okay while we are there we can get you a nonjesus shirt" and i said, "whats a nonjesus shirt?!?" haha.  I havnt seen him in 2 years.  He needs JESUS. well, hes not saved.  He's always asking me if i'm evangelizing to him when i tell him to watch a video or something online. lol. Oh you know  i am. thats just what i do. lol. The weather is so bad today. cant even leave the house. so, i'm hiding out. me and my music. phone calls from friends is much needed today but i doubt it. my stupid cell barely rings.  I dont know why i waste my time having it when i dont get phone calls. Oh well.

According to the emergency plan flip chart handed out to everyone who works at my office, if we see a tornado we are to call our central security office immediately.  I'm sorry.  But given that I work in downtown Washington, DC, if I see a tornado out my office window, my ass is running.

            If a person breaks an arm or a leg, the doctor must set the bone before it can heal properly.  If surgery is required to help maintain your health, the doctor must make an incision in order to correct what is wrong in your body.  Does the doctor dislike you because he does this? 

 

            No.  He wants to make you better.  Sometimes the doctor must hurt us in order to heal us.

 

            Would God do the same?  Would God hurt you to heal you? 

 

            I look at pictures like this, and, at first glance, it looks like somebody is really angry.  Cars tossed around.  Buildings blown up.  Was God just having a tissy fit?

 

            Or was He hurting some folks to heal them?

 

            I don’t claim to have knowledge of why God does what He does.  I don’t know why some people die in such weather catastrophes and others don’t.  However, I have noticed a couple of things about recent weather disasters here in the States, including Hurricane Katrina: There was monstrous loss of property, but relatively few deaths, when you take into consideration the enormity of the storms.  I find this interesting in a country that is so wealthy and at the same time claims a Christian heritage, the literature of which includes this radical statement from Jesus:

 

            “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

 

            Is God wounding us so He can heal us?

Close, but not quite. Perhaps I should've taken that whole "Beware the Ides of March" warning a bit more seriously. I promise not to make stupid jokes about such serious business in years to come. Probably.

 

As you may have heard, we had some interesting weather out this way on Friday and Saturday. And it enjoyed toying with us. According to local radio- which is the only news I've had available since the cable is still out, thus no tv, internet or phones- at least 5 tornadoes were confirmed within a five mile radius of my home on Saturday. One seemed to particularly like me, as it passed on three sides of our house within 100 feet. My neighbor supposedly has it on video, but I'm not quite sure I want to see it. Hearing it was interesting enough, thanks. Felt like vacuum cleaners on both my ears, trying to suck my brains out. According to the neighbor who stupidly stood there watching, it came along the road in front of the house, curved around the side up the creek, played around in our backyard for a while, by which point it was over 150 feet across, covering our yard and the immediate neighbors, but not touching down at that point. Then it hopped across the road behind us and started doing some serious damage. He said "It was just like tv, man! Just like tv!"

 

We were very fortunate, few trees down and damage to our back storage building but we and our house are fine.

 

Remember my poor Bradford Pear tree that was struck by lightning last year? Half of it was knocked off then, but the remaining half was blooming this year, so it was pretty but rather lopsided. Well, twister decided to carry off most of the other half, so what's left is just a thin strip down the middle. One very bizarre looking tree. Poor baby.

 

We live in a heavily wooded area. Correction- we used to live in a heavily wooded area. We now live surrounded by hundreds, probably thousands of tree carcasses. The smell of pine is overwhelming.

 

Few near neighbors lost their roofs and some few homes are destroyed, but very few serious injuries, thankfully.

 

Will try to have a more cohesive story and maybe a few pictures soon. At the moment I'm taking advantage of free wifi at the library (bless them) and have some job leads to follow up on before the library closes.  

 

People who deserve recognition- the postal service claims that neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night will stop the mail. Apparently, neither will tornadoes. Not ten minutes after the first wave, here comes the mailman dodging his truck around fallen trees to deliver the mail. Brave, stupid, or determined, I don't know.

Hopefully he got safely somewhere, since the next wave was much worse.

 

Bless the road crews who had the roads cleared of hundreds of downed trees within hours. Absolutely amazing.

 

Huge thanks to Georgia Power, who worked round the clock to get power back on in only about 30 hours- amazing considering the number of downed lines.

 

Kudos to the local radio station, who lifted their feet and stayed on air despite flooding, hail, and etc.