If you've kept up with Miss Jessica's posts about storm
tour (I'm from Texas; I have to throw in a "Miss" every now and then),
you know that it ended without a tornado sighting. All twenty-one of us
on this trip were sorely disappointed. Ya pays yer money and ya takes
yer chances, and there's about a twenty-percent chance you won't see a tornado on your chosen tour. It was a fabulous journey nevertheless; just without the T.
Thanks
to being unconventionally employed, three of us twister-deprived storm
junkies were able to stick around two extra days to tag along with the
next tour. I promised Jessica that if I saw a tornado, it would be her
Birthday Tornado. As you probably know, her thirtieth birthday is in
July, and this trip was her present to herself. Since she didn't get to
see one, I'd do my darndest to get it for her.
An
ideal meteorological setup and the uncanny tornado-hunting skills of
Roger Hill at Silver Lining Tours put us face-to-face with an EF-4
monster, the strongest tornado of the year to date. At first, everyone
was jubilant, posing for pictures and crowing success. I was so excited,
I did no fewer than three takes proclaiming the twister Jessica's
Birthday Tornado. Ominously, one take mentioned the possibility of
tragedy.
As the tornado neared, voices became breathless with sailor-cursing and invoking God alike. The tornado crossed the road less than a mile behind us--so close we could hear it. (It sounded like an industrial fan to me; I didn't get the sense of a freight train or jet engine or waterfall.) It was overwhelming to see the awesome power of nature and to be that close to a massive tornado.
Warning: strong language
Just after the roiling maelstrom crossed the road, it hit a structure. Pieces of sheet metal shot out of the violently rotating column. Groans, wails, and a collective "oh, no" arose from the spectators, followed by hopes expressed aloud to ourselves and our videos.
As storm aficionados, we venture out in rain, hail, and
lightning to seek the perfect tornado: strong, photogenic, structurally
aesthetic... and far out in a field or unpopulated area where it can't
harm people or property. It's awful to see someone's life affected by what we wished for.
Later, I learned that even though this tornado didn't kill anyone, the
same storm's next tornado killed a man across Interstate 35 in
Wynnewood, Oklahoma.
My
dilemma: how could I designate this Jessica's Birthday Tornado after it
caused terrible damage and destruction? I didn't want that for her. I
wanted the pretty tornado out in a field doing no harm; that's what a
birthday tornado ought to be, for heaven's sake.
But that's not what I witnessed.
Then
I thought about the other purpose Jessica had for her trip besides
celebrating a birthday: raising money for Portlight Strategies. For
Jessica, the true gift to herself--and
this makes her a better person than I am--wasn't just the storm tour;
it was turning her vacation into an opportunity to help victims of
disaster. Someday it might even be you, me, or loved ones emerging from a
basement to soggy wreckage, ears ringing, breath catching, blood
trickling from cuts you didn't realize you'd suffered, unsure what to do
next.
As I agonized over
whether or not to dub this twister her birthday tornado, the revelation
struck me like lightning: for Jessica, this is the right tornado. It's
the tornado that shows both the beautiful and sobering sides of nature,
reminding us that whether we chase or not, it has turned lives
upside-down, and those affected need our help to recover.
Please
join me in celebrating generous Jessica, her big 3-0 birthday, and our
collective penchant for wild weather by donating to Portlight Strategies today. Miss Jessica, this is it--your Birthday Tornado! From Tour
2, the Super Sexy Seven, "Van 4," your blessed family, and everyone
else who knows and loves you--Happy Birthday, babydoll.
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