In Which Paul Douglas The Weather Guy Remembers

30 March 2004

Michelle thinks I should make it clear that we really do like Paul Douglas The Weather Guy and don't blame him for the vagaries of predicting Minnesota weather. Which is true; when Paul Douglas The Weather Guy was on a home improvement show when we were in California, we sat and watched them fix up his kitchen because, y'know, hey. Paul Douglas The Weather Guy!

But this morning I had another reason to be happy with Paul Douglas The Weather Guy. His brief column in the paper began, "Six years ago today...." And my eyes prickled: oh, Paul Douglas The Weather Guy, you remembered. Six years ago today, he reminds Strib readers, thousands of Minnesotans were picking up the pieces of their lives. I was one of them. Or rather, I was waiting to see how things were, whether there were even going to be pieces to pick up. Six years ago today, I woke up raw and waiting, because six years ago yesterday a tornado hit my college, which had become my home, and none of us were even allowed back to see. No TV crews allowed. No photographers.

For those of you who want to hear about it and haven't, do ask; I'm glad to tell stories about what it was like. But in any case, I sat there staring at the Metro/State section of the Strib, and I thought, the things that are important to me are important here. Not universally, and not all the things. But people remember some of the major things in my life, the ones that went outside just me or just my family. On March 29, 2008, some weather being (maybe even Paul Douglas The Weather Guy) will probably mention that there was a tornado here 10 years ago and it smashed up some wonderful stuff, and we'll look at each other and say, "Ten years, wow, is it really?" But we won't say, "Oh, was it March 29?" Because I know what March 29 is, always.

Ah well. Late, short entry today: went out for lunch with Mark and then grilled the pastor at the church we've been going to. Trying to make sure there were no unpleasant surprises lurking, all that good stuff. Came home and dealt with a few necessary things and then started making potato salad. According to the Potato Salad Commandments, of course; I did not lapse into potato salad heresy in my time in California, so now is certainly no time to do so. Grilled pastor and potato salad. Yum.

Back to Novel Gazing.

And the main page.

Or the last entry.

Or the next one.

Or even send me email.