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quiet around here for awhile until all of our last minute house
decisions are finished. If you'd like to receive email notification
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5.31.04 A day of remembrance
Today isn't just a long weekend holiday. It's a day to remember
those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Memorial
Day doesn't validate war. That debate should be put on hold for
today. Instead, we should share our feelings of pride, respect
and honor for those that gave their all.
Here's
a good place to start. It's a long read, but an important
one.
5.30.04 F4
It's been a week since the big storm, and I feel that it needs
to be addressed. At first, I didn't know what to write. We are
not used to such severe storms, and haven't been so close to such
a devastating natural event. But after weathering an additional
round of severe storms last night, it's time to get some thoughts
up about last week's tornados.
Right before the storm hit we got a call from a friend telling
us this was the kind of storm she had been waiting for us to experience.
The lightning, the thunder, the hailwe were in for a doozy!
So as we sat through this amazing event, we thought it was totally
normal for the Midwest. We thought it was just an average thunderstorm.
We had a coworker from Canada over for dinner, and watched the
light show from the back window. After it was over we went to
bed.
The next day we got up to watch the Formula One race and then
headed off to Omaha to a car show. Little by little, as the day
went on we heard snippets about the storm. It had been reported
on the national news as one of the worst storms to hit this area
in over 80 years. There was a lot of damage. So, on the way home
we drove down near Firth where Norris High School had been hit.
The high school is only 15 minutes from our house, but it took
longer to get there because everyone was driving down to see it.
There were a few houses that had been hit. You could see the path
the tornado took by the trees that had been reduced to splinters.
Still, just the school and a few houses. We still didn't really
understand the devastation of what had happened until we got home
and turned on the news.
Hallam
was gone.
We haven't seen Hallam. The town is closed, and there is only
one road in and out, and over the past few days, the road has
been packed with residents trying to collect what is left of their
lives, rescue workers, and volunteers. We've seen the pictures
on television, and it is very hard to comprehend. The
stories are also unreal. While we were innocently eating dinner
and watching the lightning from our back window our neighbors'
homes were being destroyed. We should have had the television
on for warnings. We probably should have been in the basement.
We were lucky.
Last night we had another round of severe storms, but very little
damage. Some downed power lines and trees, mostly due to gusty
winds. There were reports of some tornados, but nothing confirmed.
We had the news on. We had a plan to go downstairs if necessary.
We covered the car to protect it from baseball-sized hail. We
know better now.
The friend who called us right before the storm told us later
that this had not been an ordinary storm for Nebraska. In fact,
she headed up a food collection at work for those affected by
the storms. At Super Saver, you can "round up" your
total and give the difference to help out. The community is responding
in an amazing way. I can't put it in words better than this story
told by a friend from work. He told us it was ok to share his
words and pictures from his experience in Hallam.
Greetings gang,
We had some friends over for a movie
Saturday night and when the movie was over, we saw the news
on TV that Hallam was hit by a tornado minutes ago. My wife's
father lives in Hallam, so the first knee-jerk reaction was
to head down there and get him.
My wife said she heard on TV that the
road was closed to all except rescue personnel, but my friend
and I grabbed flashlights, a hat and headed out anyway.
The trip there was pretty exciting as
my friend watched for any tail lights up ahead while I kept
my eyes on the white lines on the road, as the rain and hail
was coming down so hard that you couldn't see 3 feet in front
of you. He looked at the dashboard and said I was doing 75 MPH
right before we slowed down because there was a semi truck laying
on its side in the median parallel to the highway.
We headed to Hallam when right about
then the rain and wind came to a complete halt. A huge bolt
of lightning struck in the sky just long enough to show a funnel
cloud just to the north.
It kind of ticked me off that all the
rescue people were all gathered on the main street and not going
in to check out any houses yet, but we ran into the Norris Public
Power guy as we got closer to his house who said that the protocol
was to make sure no lines were still 'hot' before they could
go in.
We got to my father-in-law's house (which
was one of the few still standing), we tore down his back door
and made it in. What a relief we had when we heard his reply
"Yep" after we called out his name. His next reply
was "Pretty windy here".
After going through the identification
process with the Red Cross (what a great job they did keeping
everything organized), we made it back home to my relieved wife
right around 3:00 am.
In my book, family always come first.
I attached some photos that we shot
yesterday when we started cleaning up that I thought you may
enjoy.
Long story short...get your game-plan
together in case a tornado ever strikes Lincoln. You hear things
like 'Lincoln doesn't get hit by tornados because Lincoln in
is a valley.' Sorry. I don't believe this for even a second.
I think it's more a 'law of average' thing, so always be prepared.
Throughout my childhood, I always felt
that I was robbed by not witnessing an actual tornado (growing
up in Kansas and all), but after seeing the aftermath, I don't
feel that way anymore.
I love you all like brothers and sisters,
so get your game plan together...hope for the best but expect
the worst.
A
map of the tornado's path (pdf file) from the Lincoln Journal
Star.
More
pictures from the local community.
More
pictures from the Lincoln Journal Star.
5.15.04 The Lion of Punjab
I think we have now tried all four Indian restaurants in Lincoln,
and T has declared Sher-E
Punjab (Sher = Lion) the best. Although, to be fair, when
I asked if it was better than the lamb madras we had at the Tandoor,
he did say he might have to try that once more to compare. The
flavorings are very authentic to the Punjabi region of India,
where T's family is from. We had lamb vindaloo (not a northern
Indian dish) and paneer in a creamy tomato sauce. And I finally
had to admit that I like achar (mixed pickle), as I ate most of
the mango and carrots.
The breads were normal sized and tasty, but the paratha came
out with melted butter. Why do restaurants in the Midwest do this?
I keep forgetting to ask for it without. There was a window to
the kitchen right next to our table, and I kept standing up to
watch the cook drop breads into the tandoor. Very cool!
The restaurant is up by the college, and we expected more students
and less fuss. However, the dining room was nicely decorated,
and the diners definitely not students. The menu prices might
make it a bit out of a student's range, especially since it's
next to a sub and pizza shop. Interestingly, T said Sher-E Punjab
was almost better than House of India in Columbia, MD,
our old stomping grounds. That's a tough one to beat!
5.14.04 Extreme weather
The past week has been an interesting, but wide range, of beautiful
weather. Over the weekend and early this week the warm weather
was intoxicating. Warm breezes combined with brilliant sunsets
convinced us on Tuesday to move date night up a few days and to
go downtown for dinner. However, we couldn't handle the "breezes"
like the rest of the natives, so we chose a window seat inside
instead. It's hard to put into words how the expansiveness and
the colored sky can make you feel tipsy. The closest comparison
is watching a sunset bayside "down the ocean" (that's
"at the beach" for those not from the Baltimore metro
area). When you look out at the horizon, the colors seem to go
on forever.
After a day of rain yesterday, we have a different kind of beautiful.
It's 46 degrees today, clear and sunny. It feels like a crisp
fall daythe kind where you feel compelled to do something
scholastic like sharpen a bunch of new, yellow No. 2 pencils.
We had a frost warning in most of the state last night, and far
out in western NE I heard they got a little bit of snow. They
(the natives) say you can see as much as a 40 degree temperature
change within a 24 hour period out here in the Heartland. It definitely
keeps things interesting.
Also interesting is the humidity here. Monday was a hot and humid
day, but it didn't FEEL like what we're used to back east. When
you step outside, there's no sensation of the hot oven blast or
pea soup or wall of heat that you feel on the east coast. You
don't feel moist, sapped of your energy or even suppressed. If
the numbers are similar, there must be an X factor we haven't
considered. Is it the wind? Do the breezes mask the oppressive
feeling? Or is it the wide expanse of space? Maybe it's the lack
of smog? There are no Capital Beltway or I-95 backups that contribute
to Code Red days. No warnings to avoid exercising outside at rush
hour or to avoid the outdoors if you have respiratory problems.
When I mentioned Code Red days to the folks out here they looked
at me puzzled and in disbelief.
Not much house news to report. This weekend is the Parade of
Homes. For us, that means most of the work at our house has stopped
so builders can finish last minute preparations for the homes
in the parade. We've gone over the past few days to look at the
same three half-painted walls. Maybe next week things will be
back on schedule and we'll have more to report.
5.04.04 When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza
pie, that's amore!
When you are totally slammed and have a ton of work to do, a list
due to the painter before morning, and are so beat you can barely
keep your eyes open, what should you do? Go take pictures of the
moon! (This was taken at 9:30 pm CT.)
Last month's Blog.
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