Nature has humbled us

Weather is something we all talk about, complain about and can't do anything
about. For all the ways that man has shaped and changed nature, she still
gets the upper hand on us once in a while. Here in Michigan we are having a
cold, slow spring. Farmers can't get in the field; gardens are way behind
in blooming sequence. Last week we had a day of 80 degree weather, too hot,
too soon, and then yesterday we woke up to snow on the ground, and brief
snow squalls all day.

I am impatient to get on with my garden. I have peas and lettuce planted
and I started cleaning out garden beds but I feel way behind. I just need
to be outside, listening to birds and frogs and digging in the dirt. It
probably won't happen this week, we are scheduled ( does Mother Nature
schedule things?) to have thunderstorms, maybe severe weather tomorrow night
, then back to cold and snow showers mixed with rain and finally near the
end of the week a small warm up- with rain.

But I'm not going to complain too much after seeing the devastation Mother
Nature left in the south. There has been some really bad, scary weather
across the country this spring. Many people have died in the storms and the
property loss is astounding. Now many of you might not get to see much of
this on your local news, after all there is a wedding in England to think
about. Our larger newspapers here carried more stories about the two Brits
wedding than the severe weather in the US.

It seems that tornadoes hone in on trailers- have you ever noticed this? Of
course that's not true - (or is it? Has anyone collected any data on where
tornados hit, vs. the damage they cause? ). It's just that trailers can't
withstand the fury of the winds. Do you wonder with all of the other laws
that we have for our safety why the government still allows people to live
in trailers? At least in trailers that aren't on foundations? All trailer
parks should be required to have storm shelters scattered through the park.

Some huge, sturdy stick built structures also felt nature's wrath. With
everyone having camera phones now the videos of tornadoes and the
destruction afterward is all visible. A particularly poignant scene was
shown several times, porch steps with flowers planted along side, all
unharmed and the house behind the steps just gone-blown away.

Tornadoes have this peculiar way of leaving some things totally untouched
and destroying things around them. I think that's why so many people think
of tornados as sentient beings, capable of picking and choosing their
victims and the path they take. We fear them; as well we should, like we
fear no other weather phenomena. Those that don't fear them are just plain
stupid.

Tornados show us that we are small things in nature after all. They humble
us, we can't control them, and we often can't even predict their path.
They stop us in our tracks and change our lives forever and then the sun
comes out.

Pray for the lives that were lost this week to Nature's wrath. Ask that God
comfort the survivors and that their immediate needs be met. And keep an
eye on the sky, listen for warnings and don't take chances dancing with the
storms.