Tiny Twister

Wow, the force of nature is amazing and terrifying! It contains so much beauty and yet it can bring about so much destruction and with the destruction, heartache. Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes . . . and the list goes on.

Today I was sitting down at a picnic in the park with Katie. As we were talking, we noticed large cardboard pieces floating in the sky in the neighborhood nearby. Odd, I thought. I've never seen wind pick up large pieces like that, and hold them in the air for that length of time. We were fascinated and continued to watch the cardboard moving in the air like mere leaves floating in the breeze. They soon fell, yet we noticed other random things being picked up by the random wind we hadn't yet felt. Shortly, though, our hair began twirling around our faces, and we realized that the things weren't simply floating in the air, but spinning and twisting. The grass at the far end of the field was being pushed down and out, about the diameter of a garbage can and an invisible force was moving closer toward us. A miniature tornado. I had the urge to run towards it, and stand in the middle to see what it would feel like. But fascinated, I sat there, watching its movement and progression. It slowly moved past us, and continued on its path. Our hair stopped blowing in the wind as it moved farther and farther away. We remained enthralled as it moved towards a construction area, and dirt flew up in spirals, so you could faintly see the outline of the invisible force. Amazing!

Watching our miniature tornado, I had the impulse to feel its small force. I can't even imagine the horror of watching nature, full force, coming towards you and realizing your helplessness in the path of such awful power! With news articles replete with nature's destruction my heart reaches out to those whose lives have been torn apart and changed dramatically. There are many things in life that we can't control, but I take heart in this quote by Leo Buscaglia,

"There are two big forces at work, external and internal. We have very little control over external forces such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, disasters, illness and pain. What really matters is the internal force. How do I respond to those disasters? Over that I have complete control."