Tornadoes and hummingbirds

Friday was a terrifying day. Today was quite the opposite. On Friday we were tormented by tornadoes, which left 13 people dead in my town and surrounding area, and destroyed countless homes and businesses. Today is a picture-perfect spring day, and I saw my first hummingbird of the season. Funny how so much can change in such a short time.

It's hard to imagine that life as we know it can be gone in an instant, but nature shows us that all the time. Out of nowhere there are violent occurrences -- earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes -- that prove to us that life is fragile, and possessions are virtually meaningless. What good does it do to own a million dollar home if a tornado finds it? Ask people from New Orleans how much possessions actually matter when you're faced with leaving it behind or losing your life.

Then again, there are these little hummingbirds, that seem to have no mission in life other than to eat and be miraculous-looking. How do they hover in midair like that, sipping nectar? I know the mechanics of it, but why are there creatures like that that need to eat so much because they use up so much energy just getting the food?

Why did the hail that pounded my house on Friday knock holes in a plastic bin on my deck, but didn't dent my car, which was parked out in the driveway? How did I get so fortunate as to have a neighbor I've met only a few times call me from her office on the other side of town to warn me to get down in the basement before the storm hit? And then, later, her daughter called to check on me. What's up with that?

I'm exhausted today, and won't write much more. Just wanted to put those thoughts out there and get them out of my head. I'm hoping to sit here and see more of my beautiful visitors partake of the nectar buffet we've laid out for the, eagerly awaiting their arrival.

April 7 -- my precious niece's birthday, and the day Goodlettsville, Hendersonville and Gallatin were partially demolished. April 10 -- the day the hummingbirds came back.

Peace,
WIP