So here's the short of it, 
My thoughts are in Joplin, and closer to home, all those communities that suffered such horrible damage and loss of life.

And here's the long.

I'm horrified by the tornado damage in Joplin. The people in communities near us are still trying to put their lives back together after the tornadoes that came through Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee just a few weeks ago. Our own neighborhood, Brainerd, is still littered with the debris of the huge trees that crashed down and caused so much property damage.

image from Twisterchasers.com

I don't have many thoughts about the why's of it all. The images from Joplin make me aware of the incredible resilience of humankind. Somehow, through the worst that natural disasters or human stupidity can hurl, humankind takes it in, and finds a way - maybe sometimes in a daze - but finding a way nonetheless - to pick up the pieces and go on.

This post is a celebration of the human spirit. We take the very worst and weave a story of human survival and pass it along for generations. So here's to those who are out in the dark night in Joplin and surrounding communities, helping their fellow human beings and giving us hope. And to those in the close by communities - who after all this time are still out there after work and on the weekends helping folks pick up the pieces - doing whatever needs to be done to help. Here's to all.