Carol, I believe you are right about the majority of the damage being west of Meridian. If I remember the streets correctly, we went a block or two past Meridian and the drove south on a road I don't remember. When we got to Evergreen, we turned back east. It was on Evergreen that you really saw storm damage to the north of Meridian. On the south side of Evergreen, there was damage in pastures, but that sort of damage isn't as obvious as wrecked homes. When you drove towards Meridian on Evergreen, you passed the remains of the home (north of Evergreen and west of Meridian) where the elderly man died and his son suffered injuries that would take his life a day or so later. As we got close to Meridian, the damage was staggering. Turning from Evergreen north onto Meridian, we observed damage on both side of the street. The trailer park was on the east side of the road and it had the most damage, but houses that were on Meridian, but on the west side of the road, had spotty damage. It was like the storm hit Meridian and traveled almost, but not quite, straight up Meridian. However, it was going somewhat east of the road and as you traveled further north on Meridian, the damage was going more and more to the east of the road. I don't know if I said that well, but we first saw major damage west of Meridian on Evergreen, then on the west side of Meridian road, then on the east side of Meridian road, and then further and further east as you drove north towards Hwy 70. If a storm ever hits and I am under a carport, I hope I have that same "dumb luck". LOL EVERYONE should have a weather radio--we have three, plus our fire/police radios, and 2 out of 3 of the fire radios have the NWS channel. Tell your BIL that they also can sign up for weather alerts from KXII at the KXII website and the station will send weather alerts to their computers or cell phones. I remember the Wichita Falls tornado well. My older brother was a college student there at the time. While I do remember the massive damage quite well and, also the lives lost, what I remember most was that, when we went to WF for his college graduation 13 months after the tornado, there still was so much damage that hadn't been fixed or cleaned up. There were buildings with tarped roofs, the street lights and traffic signals all were not repaired or replaced, and rusting hulks of cars still set on right-of-way or in medians. At the time, I couldn't imagine why they hadn't cleaned up more, but now I understand it--the feds didn't help pay for clean-up back then as much as they do now, and I am sure WF was doing the best they could with the resources they had. Because the street lights had not been repaired, it was SO DARK there at night. I don't know how people drove on the pitch-black streets without having accidents constantly. After the afternoon graduation ceremony ended, my brother urged us to leave for home quickly so we could get out of WF before darkness fell. Once, when we were on vacation in south Texas, we drove past the remains of a small town, once known as Saragosa, that ceased to exist after it was wiped out by a massive multiple-vortex F-4 tornado. I think we drove through the remains of the town in the early 1990s and the tornado had hit in 1987. That tornado wiped out 85% of the town's buildings, killed 35 people and injured 121. The town only had a population of about 185 but there were extra people in town for a graduation ceremony in the community center. That community center was hit and hit hard and quite a few fatalities occurred to people inside it when it collapsed. Saragosa was a very improverished, mostly Hispanic community and almost every family opted to move away and start over someplace else. Because most of the town's inhabitants spoke ony Spanish, and warnings were issued only in English, very few people even knew there was a tornado bearing down on the town. When we drove through the town, all we saw was the remains of 1 house and a lot of concrete slabs. It was eerie. Dawn

jejvtr, I think you nailed it. Not everyone understands what is going on here in New England. This isn't just another boring day in front of the TV, and the annoyance of shoveling or entertaining the kids. It is like a hurricane, except in slow motion. School roofs are now collapsing, sometimes with kids still in them (so far, luckily no injuries). Residential roofs are starting to fail, and for those who don't know, a failed roof is not just a hole in a roof--a roof ties a building together, so the entire structure collapses and pancakes in a matter of seconds. The Red Cross is running out of blood, what with all the road accidents and cancelled donor days. It's only February, and we've had 70" of snow. What people don't realize is that most of it is still on the roofs and the ground, thanks to historically cold weather. And two more storms are coming next week--possibly three. Our houses and businesses are not built to stand up to this, and cannot possibly support another two feet of snow. Chicago's 20" is just not in the same ballpark--we've had that storm seven times over, and more. Unless the weather pattern changes soon, spring will bring massive property damage, as well as injuries and fatalities. A lot of people are going to lose their homes, and some may lose more. It's a nightmare.

Ok. So. Update. I've been seeing my neighbor, who is an accupuncturist and one, who trains many. I have confidence in his woo-woo-ness (I made that up) because I'm woo-woo myself. Has held me in good stead. He's been treating my elbows, which I determined wasn't tendonitis, but yes, damage from banging my Ulnar nerve. Within the 1st visit, my left arm is FINE. He's working on the rest. Tinnitus, a little bursitis, and [sigh] unfortunately, the underlying causes of imbalance, which is me. That said, he's asked me to journal. I thought I kinda did, here, but he said, "NooOOoooo. That's not enough and not about you." Huh? Has he read my novels, er, I mean posts? And THAT said, I started a Word document titled, "What I did today." I've discovered I have done laundry/uniforms. Put vacuums away. Moved extension cords. Gone to the reuse centers. I plan time for my 30 minute naps before work. And work! I go to work! And so on. It might be a tiny thing a day, but so far, it's stuff that's been haunting me and I have the, "There! That's done" feeling when I'm finished. I think that feeling is indicative of an accomplishment, don't you? I'm still feeling a bit lazy, but an hour in 104 heat cutting down ornamental grasses I spent 3 hours spraying 2 days before? And they're gone? HA! Done. I hooked up power strip up inside my MBR vanity drawer for blow dryer and curling iron (I'm trying to be a girl) like I saw folks here do with chargers. "I'm proud," she exclaimed, pounding chest like monkey!. Just thought I'd share. This silly document has done wonders for my overwhelmedness. Like water on a rock....

Was that in 1978, dcarch? Elery got stuck at work for 4 days during that blizzard and I had to break a path from the pond to the house because the cattle got "lost" in their own pasture and couldn't find their way to the barn. It was a doozy, although we've had others not quite as impressive. I drove to Grand Rapids yesterday, but I park the Enclave in the garage, and Elery keeps the old Silverado truck outside. That old Chevy is a 1994, but it sits outside and has started every morning when it's been 15 or 16 below zero, it's dependable, that's for sure. Michigan has icicles because heat rises and even a little heat loss through the roof will cause enough melt to drip off the edges, where it freezes into icicles. The next step is that those icicles cause an "ice dam" and moisture backs up behind the shingles and your roof leaks. We have to shovel our roof several times per winter and spread urea on the "valleys" to avoid leaks. I think we're installing a metal roof this year, the snow and ice mostly just slides off them as long as there is sufficient pitch. The sidewalks heave, the roads heave, freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw. Much like New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, any of the cold states, we work on roads all summer and move snow all winter and start over again. Somehow, our tax money never manages to cover sufficient repairs. (sigh) Roasting coffee? I have a small roaster that does about 1/4 pound at a time, I put it on a small table on my front entry way, and close the door to that. I "crack" one of the windows about 1/4 inch to let out the smoke and roast. I have the SR 500 model, they have bigger ones but 4 batches gives me a pound, which is about enough for a week. So my beans are always less than a week old and I grind enough for a pot at a time, then do a "pour over" with the Chemex. Yeah, I'm spoiled. I first started roasting coffee using a hot air popcorn popper after reading a Cook's Illustrated article. It works, but is time consuming. Then I read Mother Earth News and tried my cast iron skillet. Also works, but is time consuming AND hot. Finally Elery bought me a roaster, I've had it for a couple of years and it's been roasting my weekly coffee ever since. My current batch is Chinese, the first time I had coffee from China, and I'm enjoying it very much. I still like the Costa Rican the best, but Burman runs sales and I can often get a pound for $4 or less, so I give them a try. Some are good, some...well...not so much, LOL. I highly recommend it, if you have one of those old air poppers, it's well worth the time. For me, at least, and I don't have to leave the house to buy coffee in a caffeine "emergency". (grin) Annie