Joplin is very interested in its history, as is true for many communities. In looking for postings from the tornado related to Newfs, I ran across this very interesting story:
http://www.historicjoplin.org/?tag=hobo
This is a story that is uniquely Newfoundland in character!
I can almost hear the Train Whistle Blues (Jimmy Rogers) and Waiting for a Train. Wonder who or what the Newfoundland was looking for in Joplin.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011-2016 The weather turned dark and and the winds and rain began to blast. I left the back door open, with the storm door closed. There was so much force from the rain that water was coming inside at a small gap along the threshold from bouncing against the concrete surface outside. Soon the hail arrived. The weather alarm on the television had instructed us to tune to Channel 2, so I knew that baseball size hail was possible.
A couple of weeks ago at the National Specialty, I was visiting with some friends about traveling to dog shows. We had decided that taking Newfoundlands south was a bad idea in general. When either of us had gone to Texas, our Newfs had been hot in the ring instead of energetic. There is usually a benefit to going north when you show a Newf. Plus, these friends said that their bus had been hit by softball size hail the last time they were in Texas for a show.
The weather reports often indicate the extreme possibilities, but now and then the size of the hail is large enough to do damage. I didn’t want to see baseball sized hail. The small pieces of hail that arrived at our location were coming down with enough force that a couple of small pieces bounced up and inside at the bottom of the door. The weather was looking fierce.
I had lived in Kansas for many years, and had learned a good deal about weather patterns that lead to tornado formation. I had also learned that listening to the weather being reported on the radio or television would elevate your excitement level and that it wasn’t always accurate for your immediate area. Several times, it was actually worse at my immediate area than was being projected, and once the small tornado that touched down about 1/8 mile behind our house was reported as being another mile away on a different road. I had been through severe weather training year after year, so being prepared in mind with a plan was second nature, as was listening to the weather reports while watching what was overhead.
Several storms had come and gone while we lived in Kansas. One year there were more than usual, and three times I was driving along I70 while the storms were passing across. When storms that produce tornadoes arrive, they are compelling on their own, but when you listen to the sounds of stress or alarm from others, your blood pressure definitely increases. This is not all bad, since you need to be prepared to think and act rapidly if needed, however you need to be able to act deliberately, not in panic.
Most homes were not originally designed with plans for this type of weather. So, you must be prepared to take your best option when things change rapidly. If you are driving on the interstate, particularly on a toll road, you may not have many options. Refueling stations have limited capacity when there are emergency shelter areas.
I heard during one weather report yesterday that there are an average of 10 tornadoes per day during the month of May. Of course, this may be the average of 100 tornadoes over three storms. In any case, there are far too many to not put some effort into being prepared.
As the weather continued to escalate, the dogs and I waited in the kitchen. Our house has a basement, but it is the old type of basement, dusty, but dry. The basement door is in the kitchen, and there are gates that secure the dogs to close proximity, in the event that we need to go downstairs quickly. The kitchen is probably the most secure room on the main floor, with a pantry, a refrigerator, cabinets and appliances that would hopefully leave breathing room underneath and support some of the weight that could accumulate above. But, our plan is to be in the basement in the event that should be needed.
I tried to pay attention to the storm outside and listen to the weather reports inside. The storm door was securely locked with the deadbolt to keep it from blowing open, but as the direction of the wind and rain changed from the north toward the east, I closed the back door and gathered the leashes.
When the air suddenly becomes still during a storm, this is another cause for concern. Sometimes it passes, sometimes you have a narrow miss, and sometimes it suddenly escalates. I opened the back door again, about 10 feet away, to decide whether conditions may be improving or if we should go downstairs. As I opened the back door, air movement rapidly went out toward the north. The wind had changed, and it began blowing from the east.
I checked the television again, and a video was being broadcast of the storm in the north end of Joplin. A reporter could be heard saying, “I don’t think it will hit our station.” About 30 – 45 seconds later, that station went off the air. This was at around 5:15 – 5:30 p.m.
At the end of a storm, or at a pausing point during stormy weather, there may be some unusual lighting, and the winds will lay again. This time, when the winds let up, and I began checking the channels for information, the news was unbelievable, except for the reality of the situation.
It is hard to know what to do. I called the local Sheriff’s office to offer assistance, then waited. It was 8:15 at night, but I decided to give Parker a bath, in case his company could benefit some of the storm victims in the next few days. I began clearing space in the house, in case we would need to have guests, and working out how to handle dogs or other pets.
The next morning, I went to the volunteer center in Joplin and signed up. I’ve kept the phones close all night and day, but there hasn’t been a call yet. There are so many people who want to help that there is a surplus of volunteers. This is one of the wonderful things about this community.
It will take a long time to recover. There have been many lives that are changed or uprooted, and many businesses that have suffered damage or have been a total loss. Most of the business district in Joplin is secured, so even businesses that could be open have been closed. Some were closed yesterday that were not impacted directly, allowing their employees time to work through their own losses and impacts, and keeping traffic down for those areas.
The rain continued through yesterday, with iffy conditions for further developments, and today and tomorrow are supposed to be high-risk for conditions that produce high-impact tornadoes.
For now, the sun is shining, the dogs are snoozing, and there is work to be done.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 This morning, the sun is shining like it is late July. There was a sprinkling of moisture on everything outside, so that it felt like Florida, except that there were no small lizards scurrying around. Little Bit (bob-tailed calico cat) is looking forward to lizard tails again this summer, but it is too early for the proliferation of lizards in the Ozarks. I do hope that the report that some tick-borne diseases are cleared by Western Fence Lizards as an intermediate host is accurate, and that this also applies to Eastern Fence Lizards. However, it is too early to be thinking about lizards. The spring flowers are still in bloom. The very large, brilliant gold irises are now in bloom, and the first of the Magnolia-like peonies has begun to open. Soon their fragrance will fill the yard.
Since returning from the National, the dogs have been in party mode. They weren’t as excited as I had expected about arriving at home after being gone for twelve days, and the next morning, they were ready to go again, taking any chance to go out the back door. Parker went to the Expedition and sat beside it, waiting for us to join him and let him inside. The van was elsewhere, and they don’t ride in the Expedition much now, but he clearly remembered that it was an alternative.
To extend the value of Party Life, they went with me to Springfield yesterday, then we took them for a walk in town. Parker greeted any willing human with delight. As we reached the last couple of miles from home, I had been listening to a Craig Morgan song about a homeless man dreaming about his childhood (the Cottonwood tree song), and I knew how Parker would greet a homeless person – with no reservation and no prejudice, with love and joy. He has always been good about keeping his priorities straight, and he’s begun making a deliberate effort to teach his little sister about some of these.
His little sister (based on relative size) has been acting funny again. She has been taking food tentatively as though she doesn’t want to be impolite but her expression when she takes it reveals that she is repulsed by the texture or taste of the food. This applies to food that you give her by hand and food that is in her dish. This is one of many clues that it’s about that time. She also starts to get into rowdy, loud play brawls with Parker, and she is the instigator. So while they are partly still hyped from party mode, this morning when she started working on Parker instead of starting her morning nap, I knew that there was more to the story. Parker is also indicating that it won’t be long, maybe a couple of weeks more. Then the house will be in uproar!
This means that I have at most a couple of weeks to regain some organization and catch up on spring tasks before my attention demands will be placed elsewhere. I’m planning to use this time well, to plant a new pine tree, move another, add a Guinivere’s butterfly bush to the flower bed, and a limber pine, remove the Sycamore starts that keep emerging from beneath the sidewalk, plant some Park’s Whopper tomatoes, and complete the post-vacation laundry and reorganization. It’s also the time of the year to order the season tickets for the Tent Theatre and make plans for any dog shows or family travel for summer. Hard to believe that summer’s here already!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Written Aug. 26, 2003
Last night as I went outside, I heard a cicada bug chattering inside the house as I opened the back door. Thinking that Parker might enjoy playing with it, I continued with the mission of the moment that led me outside, leaving the “locust” in the house.
This morning, as Parker was playing in the kitchen, he found that fascinating buzz-toy, his first encounter with one. Every time he touched it, it buzzed. This was not like his Squatty Chick, the stuffed toy that just fits in his mouth, the one that he likes to walk around squeaking. This thing made its own noise.
Unlike Dad, who removes squeakers, Parker enjoys noise-makers, and he is a good one himself. He is at times very conversational, occasionally argumentative, and always bold. If he wants to see what you are doing, he walks up without hesitation and stands in the middle of it. The locust was outside of his pattern of expectation, though. It was curious, and he was bold, but when it began buzzing, he moved his head back at a tilt and studied it.
Brit, who has rarely shown interest in any toy, walked straight into the kitchen, straight to Parker and took his locust. At this point, I was observing, wondering whether Brit would play with it or eat it, and I was a little surprised that Parker hadn’t eaten it, with his compulsion for sampling the flavor of things. Brit went straight back to her rug and laid down with the locust in front of her mouth. She watched with some amusement as it began to buzz when she touched it with her mouth. I was beginning to think that Brit recognized the sound of the locust, that she had seen these before. After a few slobberings, enough was enough and that time she chomped. While I felt sorry for Parker as he gave Brit that befuddled look for taking his object, I doubt that he will let her do that again, since he observed that it was an edible treat. Now I am hoping that cicadas are not toxic to dogs, as I realize that this will be another thing that Parker will, with quick reflexes, recognize and gulp if he has the opportunity. If they taste good, he will probably extend his curiosity about the pallatibility of other things that buzz.
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