Lots of impressive events mark this Friday, both personal and public.

The one that held interest for everyone (or at least 1/3 of the world’s population according to the news) was the Royal Wedding.  For the USA, there has been almost non-stop coverage for the past couple of weeks that turned to wall-to-wall coverage for the big event today.   This morning, I was thankful for the invention of the DVR.   Unlike the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981, I did not have to arise at the profane hour of 4 a.m.  (which would have been 3 a.m.  Central).  In my world, that is still the middle of the night. There’s a reason those are known as the wee hours.  It’s momentous that I have experienced the weddings of two future kings of England.

I didn’t have my fancy hat, but I did still have bedhead and upon viewing the procession of hatted ladies, I think it worked.  What is it with the English and the hats? Why weren’t the men wearing hats?  I have no problem with a tradition of wearing hats, but is there a competition on for the ugliest, strangest hat in the land?  The wedding is worth watching just to marvel at the hats.  Fuzzy and feathery,  woven and wide-brimmed, pill-boxed and petaled — every imaginable decoration in a rainbow of colors and a mosaic of shapes.

The bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome and they seemed to have only eyes for each other.  Wait a minute, royals in love with each other getting married?  Is that allowed?  Didn’t Parliament pass a law against that?  Truly, I  think it’s lovely to see the feelings they have for each other showing through.   Wills, Harry and Kate all strike me as being new, modern kinds of royals.  The two princes seem to have absorbed their philosophy of life more from their Mum than their Dad.

On a more personal side, this Friday was filled with news reports of damage from the tornado outbreak across the Southeastern USA.   This brought a genuine thankful moment.  The area hit hardest in Georgia is the area where my hometown is.  My family and many friends still live across that whole region.  Most of them came through without damage or injury.  Those connected to me who were affected had only minor damage or injuries.   One did pass directly over my Dad’s house, but did not touch down.   My step-sister and her four boys were staying the night with them because of the storms.  They had to take refuge in the inner hallway with their heads covered and could hear the roaring as it passed over.   Whether by people or places, I have ties to many of the towns severely damaged by the storms.

As I watch the TV coverage, I feel powerless to help them.  At this time, Texas seems even more of a distance than normal.  A broken tree trunk javelined into the rear door of a transfer truck will be one of my enduring images.  Tuscaloosa is a place we often travel through going back to Georgia and usually a stopping point for a break.  I have friends whose hometown is that area.   Cleveland, Tennessee has been a part of my entire life.  My hometown is a 30 minute drive away, a bit over the Georgia border.  We shopped and ate  there often.  My mom, a local bank teller, was off on Wednesdays, so we took excursions that day.  One of her favorite destinations was Cleveland, for shopping at the “Can House” and dining at a small, dingy hole-in-the wall, inexpensive but delicious Oriental restaurant. Many Fifth Sundays, when our church didn’t have service,  we journeyed to Collegedale to stock up on Little Debbies.   Summers, we swam at Parksville Lake, on The Rocks.

North Georgia is riddled with small, interconnected towns.  Most are just blips on the map.  The ones situated along I-75 feature motels, restaurants, and convenience stations. Unless you’re from the area, people don’t notice your town until something happens. Ringgold is a small town about halfway between Dalton, Ga. and Chattanooga.   Thursday morning, Ringgold made national headlines as the town in North Georgia virtually flattened by an E4 or 5 tornado.  The state closed down all the roads into town.  The reporter I was watching read a list of the buildings destroyed.  As he stated the name of each place, I  recognized each one.  When this sort of event happens, I feel much compassion for those suffering, but it’s a different sort of tragic feeling when you can clearly picture those places because you have memories of being there.

When I worked at WFLI-TV,  the studio and tower, while being licensed to the Chattanooga market through Cleveland, was located in Varnell, an even smaller town not far from Ringgold.  Traveling to and from location shoots usually required a trip through Ringgold.  If we had to run to the store or if a group went out to eat, Ringgold was the closest town that could provide those services, unless we wanted to visit the Burger Den.   (Yes, we did really eat there.)  I’ve eaten at the Waffle House — the only place still open after some late-night shoots.  I’ve filled up with gas at the Shell station, which was described as “flattened” and “shredded.”  I’ve shopped in the stores.  I’ve driven on Alabama Hwy., I-75 and Hwy. 41 without giving the town a second thought as I traveled through. The high school, which our high school sometimes competed against,  had sections destroyed.   A wide swath of a vibrant town gone in a matter of seconds — eight dead,  double-digit injury counts,  possibly hundreds losing houses, businesses and possessions.

At devastating times like this, people always wonder why God would allow such a horrible thing to happen.  I believe a lot of nature happens.  It has its course, and storms occur. I think it does present each of us the opportunity to step forward, to help others and to show kindness to others in a real, visceral way.

Originally, the last Endeavour shuttle launch was scheduled for this afternoon.  During the time I’ve been writing this post, the launch was scrubbed for today and rescheduled for Sunday.   No matter how many times the launch date is pushed back, it doesn’t change the fact that this is the last trip for Endeavour and the penultimate launch for the entire shuttle program.  A program that has no other program waiting in the wings to take its place.  That’s right, folks!  We are witnesses to the end of America’s ability to travel into space.   Yes, the country who pioneered space travel, the most powerful country in the world, the country who placed men on the moon first, will have no way to travel into space.  Progress and evolution.  If our government desires to have astronauts on the Space Station, they will hitchhike rides with the Russians.  Who will history say really won this race?

Tomorrow, we are scheduled to take our annual trip to the Ren Faire.  Lots of ugly, outrageous hats will adorn the heads of royals once again.

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