I haven't paid too much attention to what's been happening in Missouri, although I have seen some of the news.  

I have been paying attention to Slave Lake.  People are getting angry and frustrated.  RCMP are going into homes (little damage) to check on things which is getting some riled up.  Those with destroyed homes are upset that they can't go back to try to salvage something.  There's also people who have vehicles left in Slave Lake who want to work in open areas.  Some are angry that media were given tours first, and they were only allowed on a bus today, and could not walk around.  I understand the safety issues, but if it were my home I would also be frustrated.  The mayor has a difficult job ahead of her.

http://www.globalnews.ca/video/index.html?releasePID=bYCERIiMuU2BwFhAd7isU4hjO_s7GAqG

Sorry, with the changes I'm not sure how to embed.  This links to a video of an interview with Slave Lake's mayor.

Sometimes I feel like burying my head in the sand, and thanking God that I live where I do.  Yes, we have natural disasters - we have blizzards, fires, just before Christmas homes were lost to a sudden flash flood, and just this past week two lives were lost in the swollen waters of the Saint John river.  

I've been wanting to write something to acknowledge their deaths.  Thank you Gecko for giving me the opportunity:

Each year in the springtime people harvest the fiddleheads.  This has been a tradition among the native people for centuries  the first spring greens after the dreary winter, and a cash crop for sale along the highways, in the markets, the local stores and supermarkets.  The harvest is short and unpredictable.  These little ferns grow quickly when conditions are right.  Go out one day and you can hardly notice the little clumps where they are starting to push up through the ground.  Go out a few days later and they have unfurled into ferns - you have to get them in between.   This year the season has been late - it rains almost every day - the rivers are high, fast flowing, powerful.  So when the word got out that fiddleheads were up on the islands in the Saint John, despite another cold, drizzly day, and the fact that they only had three life jackets, a group of five went out for the opportunity to make some hard earned cash to support their families.  The wind came up - the boat was swamped on its way to shore.  Two women and a man wearing life jackets were saved.  One of the other men was pulled from the water but could not be revived.  His brother is still missing.  They had young wives and small children.  They were trying to earn a living.   NB is a small province - it doesn't take long to find a connection.  I used to bowl with their grandmother.

Doomsday comes al right - but to each of us individually.  That day was doomsday to  two people.  We don't know the day nor the hour.  I pray for them, and those they left behind.   They are real to me.

But I also pray for the people along the Richelieu River in Quebec, the people in Manitoba, and others who have lost everything in floods - for the people in the Slave Lake area with their town burned to the ground - for the people in the States dying or homeless after wind storms - while the Japan earthquake and tsunami is still fresh in my mind.   Perhaps May 21st wasn't Doomsday - but I cannot help wondering when it will come for each of us.  The world as we knew it - a world where we could feel safe - where we could speak of the everlasting hills, and 'lift up our eyes onto the hills' - seems to be threatened. 

When I listen to the news tonight, what will be the next disaster?  

a gentle bump - or is this something that we wish would just go away and leave us feeling safe and secure in our own little part of the world?

Thanks for trying, seeler.  Maybe I should have put this under another thread, or chose a more interesting title.

Maybe we hear so much about disasters every day that we get a little overwhelmed...

When I see pictures and watch/read news about earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, etc., I stop and say a little prayer for those folks.  Also, I am grateful for the blessings in my own life.  I don't know how people cope with losing everything...takes a great deal of courage to face each day.  People in Japan in some of the isolated communities which were destroyed by the tsunami are showing severe signs of depression. 

Sunday, in the Prayers of the People, I mentioned all those dealing with the extremes of weather as well as those who worry about how close a loved one lives. I made sure to mention that we cannot forget those in Japan. I also mentioned how helpless we can feel about what is not in our control and how we can wonder about God because of it.

Then, on Sunday evening, my wife and I went through our emergency plan. Tornadoes can happen anywhere, a glimpse at the world tornado map reminds you how common they are in Canada.

We made sure the stairs to our unfinished basement were clear of items set on the step for the next trip down. We talked about the sounds of a tornado even if you have not heard a weather update. We went over how the water and hydro are shut off. We changed the oil in the generator and started the chainsaw. The emergency water and canned food supply was switched out. We talked about our animals. We planned a meeting place in case we were separated from each other.... In that moment, it becomes real. It is no longer a news story. Thinking about someone you loved being missing, knowing they were blown away, washed away, buried in debris... that makes it real.

You cannot know when a storm might come. You hug each other tight today and tell each other how you feel... and when you quit crying, you call the red Cross donation line.

What else can we do?

There was a huge gas leak a few blocks from me today.  I could hear it and smell it when I was outside.  At the time, I didn't know what I was hearing and I'm used to smelling random things in the lab and I was preoccupied, so it didn't cross my mind that it was gas.  Luckily, nothing bad happened.

People in Slave Lake are being brought back in stages (mainly based on employment, hospital workers were included today).  Yay!

It sounds like the tornado stricken area is starting to get back in some areas already too.  Hopefully improvements will be made in all areas experiencing disasters lately and new ones can be avoided for a while.