measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weathering Mother Nature A couple of natural events have happened in the last 72 hours or so that have been on my mind-- the falling of the Old Man of the Mountain in New Hampshire, and the horrific outbreak of tornados this past weekend across the midwest. As a Pagan, I see these events as purely natural. Mother Nature is doing what she does. These are the destructive aspects of Nature. They must happen to keep the cycle of rebirth and construction/formation intact. There's nothing bad about them because they are simply natural things. Yet I shake my head because as a modern day human being, the toll-- particularly from the tornados-- is so saddening. As of writing this, thirty-seven people have died. Only four years ago-- over the same weekend-- another huge batch of tornados hit this area of the country, causing a tremendous amount of devestation. At the time, I was working for a public insurance adjuster. One of his clients lost four apartment complexes, and five people died in those complexes alone. And there's nothing that can be done. Tornados are just there. Unstoppable, powerful forces of wind-- one of the ultimate symbols of chaos. I've seen what a small tornado can do-- one touched down in Billings when I was a kid. It only stayed on the ground a short time, managing to rip apart the local minor-league baseball field, but thankfully nothing else. I can't even imagine what these people have gone through. What they'll continue to go through as they try to pull their lives back together. Simply awful. *shakes head* On the other side of the coin, we have an event that is more localized, but still sad in a way because it was an icon. The Old Man of the Mountain is a symbol that the state of New Hampshire held very dear. Its facade was on each state route symbol on the highway. It was on license plates. It's on the New Hampshire state quarters. It was a simple chance collection of rocks that made a recognizable shape-- and it weathered the test of time until it fell sometime after dusk on Friday and before dawn on Saturday. I'd never had the chance to see it in person. It was on that "one of these days we'll drive up there" list. Erich, LGM, and I were in the car on the way to Greg & Kelly's when we heard the news on the radio. The announcer was fairly choked up about it. The Old Man was a symbol of pride for New Hampshire residents. It was resilient. It stood, never changing, staring out over the landscape. I'm sorry I never got to see its quiet observance over the land below. I have a feeling it would have been a serene, spiritual experience for me. ~ Mel. 9:12 a.m. - 05 May 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||||||