Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes . . . oh, my!

Felt as far south as Charleston, as far north as Toronto, and as far west as Columbus, the recent earthquake, with its epicenter in Mineral, VA, took everyone by surprise. Earthquakes usually do. So do tornadoes. Mother Nature has a way of whipping up wind-crazed fury at the last minute.

Some floods don't have the same effect. Neither do hurricanes. Sure, you have to be flood-wary when it's raining hard, but there are other floods that can be foreseen. And, thanks to the nature of the hurricane beast, there’s an increased amount of predictability there as well. Atmospheric scientists can tell us the time it's expected to hit; generally the course it's on; and, allowing wiggle room, how intense it'll be. Yet, there are people who choose to stay in the paths of both the flood and the hurricane.

During much of our lives, we’re slammed with the unpredictable. We don’t see what's coming, and we can’t get out of the way. On the other hand, there are certain actions we take that will quite possibly result in diaster, yet we choose to take the paths anyway.

This was brought home to me in the pharmacy. While standing in line, I studied the shelf. One of the products was a DNA paternity test. Enough said. Another was a home drug-testing kit. Would this be for the parents who distrust their kids, or the soon-to-be-tested possible employee? Either way, it’s a sorry state of affairs and one that can be avoided.

Why live your life tempting disaster? Get out of Dodge while you can. Life’s crazy enough with its unpredictability.

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