My late brother Neil used to tell a story about my father who was taking a midday nap on the floor of our farmhouse in rural Henderson County, Kentucky, in the early thirties. It was continuing to rain, threatening to drown out all the corn crops Neil, Carl and Daddy had worked so hard planting. Neil had not yet started his 50-year career in education, and Carl was in high school. Who knew that he would become a very successful businessman? Neil was a worrier, like my mother, so he was walking the floor.
Dad had enough. He raised his head up and said," Son, you can't do a thing about the weather." He proceeded to lie down and go to sleep. Neil said he thought of Dad's credo the rest of his life when events he couldn't control reared their ugly heads. If you can't help it, don't waste time worrying about it.
The world is finding that out in hard lessons all over the world. It's impossible to countermand Mother Nature. We can predict where the storms are headed, but we can't keep them from wreaking havoc on civilization as we know it. We can't predict what a storm will actually do, or prevent the consequences.
I had a Missions Advisory Committee meeting at the Kentucky Baptist Building in Louisville on Monday morning, so I planned to leave right after church on Sunday to go visit my daughter Cathy who furnishes my "Bed and Breakfast" when I have KBC business to attend to. Not only is the price (free) right, but the company is top notch.
I stopped in Stanton to eat lunch, and the girl who brought my Frisco "Thickburger" looked out the window and said," It's going to come a storm." Sure enough, the clouds were rolling. I hope it does come a good shower and wash my dirty car, I thought.
The weatherman had forecast windy weather as an aftermath of Hurricane Gustav that had wreaked havoc on Texas, so I was not too surprised when I had to wrestle the steering wheel to keep the Camry on the road as I proceeded toward Louisville, but not a drop of rain fell to wash my car. When I got to the edge of Jeffersontown, all the traffic lights were out, but we were proceeding as though the intersections were four-way stops, and I got through the four non-functioning traffic signals without mishap, and arrived safely at Cathy's house.
They said they had tried to call my cell phone, but of course, I had it turned off.
They were without power all the time I was there. I was not hungry, as the "Thickburger" had enough calories for four meals. I drank a glass of milk for supper, and the rest had tuna sandwiches.
It turned out that 4,500 households were without power in the Louisville area, The Louisville Gas and Electric Company had five crews dispatched to Texas to help restore power there, and the whole Ohio Valley had the force of strong winds that downed trees, power lines, and cut off electric power to ever so many homes far away from Texas.
The Ryder Cup, a prestigious golf match is set to be played Friday through Sunday at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. There was considerable wind damage to the club, but I see by the paper today that evidently the course will be ready when the overseas guests get to Louisville. Cathy said her section of town had power restored as she supposed the Valhalla end had top priority.
When I was a child, we would have storms that downed trees, but we could always read by the coal oil lamp, cook on the wood stove, and even run the battery radio. Unless we were in a flood plain, or a tornado hit our houses directly, the weather did not cripple our lifestyles.
We are realizing that, as my daddy knew eighty years ago, "You can't do a thing about the weather."
(Cathy offered to cut my bed and breakfast fee to half price, as the amenities were substandard and I had to put on makeup by flashlight. I said I would pay her double, as I came anyway when she had tried to close down her inn.)
Other items by this author:
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is Fifty Years Old
A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed
