50 Years ago Today...

.....tornadoes. Above is the now famous picture taken by Paul Huffman, Elkhart Truth Photographer, driving on highway 33 between Goshen and Elkhart, Indiana.

The double funnels had just gone through the Midway Trailer Park (called "Midway" due to its location between Goshen and Ekhart). As terrifying as this image is, there was more to come.

A huge tornado tore through the Sunnyside housing addition (approximately in back of the right funnel, but further down the highway). A school friend, Debbbie Forsythe Watters, recalls that horrible evening. All the pages of the article are short; it is well worth the read.

Debbie has been instrumental in setting up a memorial to that day, and to the people who died.

Palm Sunday, 1965, saw many more tornadoes than the three I've mentioned; you can read about their paths, here.

But for the "I was there" perspective,  personal recollections are always best. These are short and to the point. All the more hard-hitting in their stark brevity.

There weren't cell phones to capture on-the-scene video, but a few photos were taken.

We lived a mile or so from Sunnyside addition. Church had been cancelled and we were home, listening to weather reports (such as they were) and the occasional TV spot. One of my older brothers had posted himself on the upstairs landing, looking out the west window. Suddenly he called, "Hey....there's a little tornado!"

We went tearing up the steps and gazed in wonder at a skinny, little, twisty thing, harmlessly passing by over the trees. Pretty clear it was incapable of doing damage.

Wow. We had seen a real tornado! This was a huge deal and were we ever thrilled. I think most of us went downstairs again.

In a little while, there was another call from upstairs and back we charged to the landing.

Instead of another snaky smudge in the air near our house, we saw a huge, dark column, directly west, perhaps a mile or two away. There was no "funnel" shape. It looked like an upended rectangle, attached to the earth and the clouds.

I recall simply staring at in in shock, and then my father said, "I believe we'd better get to the basement."

At least we had a basement. Not everyone did.

It was absolutely terrifying. But we suffered no real damage. Certainly no loss of life. And I know I've written and talked about this before, but it was the kind of experience that will always remain frighteningly fixed on my personal timeline.

That's why I'm thinking of my friends in the Elkhart/Dunlap area today.

God bless you, Debbie! And all the others, as well.

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Facing Facts

There is no degradation to admitting my days of non-stop yard work are over.

Whereas a couple decades ago I pregnantally moved vet trailers (to mow. a feat which, while admirable at the time, I now regret), picking up pine cones in the yard is now too much to handle.

Thankfully, my available slaves helped me.

"Anybody sore from picking up pine cones, yesterday?"

"Nope!" they replied, all too cheerfully. Confirming that which is all too obvious.

I. Am. Old.

It's the ancient quadracepal dilemma. And it makes going up and down the stairs, particularly down, an excruciating experience.

It also makes one carefully gauge the the need for traversing floor to floor.

Important questions must be asked:

"I need a nap, but that means going upstairs...." (and eventually coming down)

"Do I really need to visit the little Ma's room?" (I'd have to come down the steps, again)

"How hard would it be for the boys to construct a litter?"

Currently my down-the-stairs trips are accomplished in Frankenstein fashion, stiff-legged and thumpy, with unspoken "OW's!" at each step.

All this to say, there may be some merit to paving the yard.

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In Which Ma Posts and Plants All in One Day and Becomes Moderately Fatigued

Hard to believe, especially on this day of Tom Foolery.

My favorite "product" for April 1st, 2015, was the "Selfie Shoe."

A shoe with a toe port to pop in your phone, then take a selfie with your friends by merely lifting one's foot.

Except I don't have a smart phone.

Or legs that can lift.

Or friends.

But I agree in principle with the selfie shoe.

If it existed.

Now, on to the very busy day of Ma!

Trevor had his last morning of yearly assessment testing, so I took him in to Ackley, beat it back home (changed into old clothes), and used my 90 minute window of opportunity to commune with Iowa topsoil.

Dug up enough to plant the last of my early crops, then (changed clothes), raced back into Ackley to take Nolan to his Woodworking class and pick up Trevor.

We partook of that most ancient and sacred ceremony: "Choosing of the Donuts." To celebrate the end of testing. Then we each took part of the booty

Raced back home.

(changed clothes)

Thanks to Ethan fixing all of lunch I was free to trip merrily out to the garden and plant carrots, peas, and two kinds of radishes.

It was extremely windy but I'm almost certain some of the carrot seeds did not blow away.

After lunch (donuts for dessert!) I prepared for shopping. I could have waited a day or two to get groceries? But I was almost out of coffee. So no, I could not wait.

You will not believe this, but I had to changed clothes (again!) and even take time for a shower.

The lads and I successfully completed another food-n-Walmart run, and by successful, I mean they each got candy.

Donuts and candy are much like beans and rice, in that, when paired together, they make a complete protein.

(in unrelated news, this posted on April 1st)

After a brief and relaxing 30 minutes of Evening News, it was time to fix supper and then,

out to the garden, necessitating YET ANOTHER CHANGE OF CLOTHES.

This time my labors revolved around digging up and re-transplanting six red twig dogwood bushes. Originally residing in a ditch down the road, these dusky-limbed beauties had spent three years increasing the property value in front of our home.

Turns out, they don't increase the value quite as much as a new porch.

Thankfully, ditch dogwood is tremendously hard to kill. After being "thrown" into the garden temporarily last fall, they have now found new digs by the garden.

Phase 3.4 of my simple, 57-step plan to re-vamp the side yard is complete.

To recap, that's:

2 trips to local town
1 trip to less local town
3 trips to the garden, some digging required.
NO NAP

Frankly, I'm tired.

Changing clothes is exhausting.

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