Tornado Warnings....

....last night.  The sirens went off around 6:30 last night.  It seemed like just a mild rain, so hearing the sirens was surprising and disconcerting.  Being from the Midwest, tornado watches and warnings are something I grew up with.  We did tornado drills regularly in school, hunkered down cross-legged with our hands clasped behind our necks, preparing for the worst.  I guess tornado watches and warnings are as familiar to me as earthquake warnings are to Californians as hurricane warnings are to East and South Coasters as fire hazard warnings are to....well, now, kind of everywhere, but especially the dry south and west, though clearly the north too and anywhere where lightning or people with matches in a dry place are.  It was a meteorologist's dream yesterday, the extreme and severe weather making its way towards the city.  Each station we turned in to watch had one excited meteorologist after another, their screens lit up with RED! and PINK!, their excited voices talking about swirling winds and torn off roofs.  We were actually calmed by ABC's Cheryl Scott's peaceful, straightforward demeanor (and she's so beautiful that she's fun to watch).  The hysteria that some of the other channels exhibited was so annoying, especially when you're in a scary situation.  That seems to be a trend these days....headlines scream the worst things in the worst ways, putting fear ahead of reporting.  I miss Peter Jennings, calm, avuncular, personal, smart, delivering horrible news in a way that made you feel like everything, even in its horribleness, was going to be okay.  Now?  Hard to watch the news, hard to read the headlines, hard to take in the bad things when the newscasters make them SO BAD.  Why do they want us to be afraid?  What does that accomplish?  Maybe severe reactions?  Like severe weather?  That make people do severe things?  So there can be more screaming headlines?  It's a perpetual cycle now.  I'm not sure we're exhibiting the best versions of ourselves these days, people in power who can really make the world a better place instead of scaring the bejeezus out of all of us.  Power is a delicate thing.  It needs to be wielded gently and magnanimously with regard to all things living and breathing.  Power is a great responsibility.  "Power has only one duty - to secure the social welfare of the People."  Benjamin Disraeli.  

Wishing you the power to be kind, to lend a helping hand when needed, to be calm amidst the fury, and to smile at someone who needs a lift in their day.  Here's a smile for you from me :-)  And some roses from the Merrick Rose Garden to brighten your day and lift your spirits.