April Going Out Like a Lion ...

We haven't had many April showers around here and we're seeing yellow - a very unaccustomed color for these parts at this time of year - clearly signalling dry patches.  Swiss authorities have limited open air burning and have requested that special care be taken with barbecues.  There were even significant forest fires in the Valais that started last weekend, something practically unheard of this early in the season.  But it looks as if what we've missed out on precipitation here, the southern US states have had in spades.  They've not just had storms, with rain, hail and god knows what else, but they've also had a spate of killer tornadoes during the past week. 

The tornadoes have not only wreaked havoc to an extent that they are now being referred to as the "super tornado" outbreak, the worst ever in US history, but they have killed hundreds of unfortunates who were caught in their path.  The toll continues to mount.  Last Wednesday, for example, some 211 tornadoes were reported within a few hours' span.

Still, much of the US mainstream media was so caught up in its infatuation with Donald Trump, the latest but perhaps most fatuous bag of hot air to explore a 2012 Presidential bid - presumably for the Republican nomination which already seems to have a prize group of lunatics in waiting - that it nearly missed the story.  Those who weren't caught up in The Donald's irrepressibly continuing lunacy were infatuated by fluff, pomp, splendor and reminiscences leading up to the royal wedding, which was at least a glorious spectacle with more historical symbolism than the multi-bankrupt and multi-divorced Trump has ever had - or ever will, for that matter.  At least, the new Duke of Cambridge is an active member of his country's military and performs other service benefiting the British public as well.

HWMBO sent me a screen shot of the weather channel showing what was heading for Maryland on Thursday, presumably remnants of the killer tornadoes that had passed through the south.  It was colorful and impressive, but nothing like what others had experienced. 

Indeed, he also sent me a couple photos that he had snapped earlier of one of our rear fences being replaced. 

The replacement was not due to property damage, but simply to age.

We have owned the property since 1982 and count ourselves as very fortunate not to have had significant problems caused by freakish weather systems.

All my warmest thoughts and wishes are with all those who have lost loved ones or otherwise suffered from these natural disasters. 

What enrages me, however, is how certain religious zealots seize on such happenings to stoke people's fears about an End Times scenario.  One of the latest of these nuts predicts the end of the world on 21 May - based on all the recent natural disasters.  The craziest thing of all is that there are actually people who believe him.  And there is LOTS of money involved for their message to be spread.

Wouldn't it be nice if for once these zealots would cease to promote their own cockamamie agendas and, if they've raised so much money, actually send it to their brothers and sisters who need assistance right now on earth?  Because I'm pretty darn certain, come 22 May, that this world will still be here and most of us will still be trying to figure out how we all can continue to co-exist in harmony on it as well as deal with the many challenges of modern life.   IMO, a just God would not want to have any of these nuts anywhere near Her - ever!