During
our life together, Cindy and I have survived a house fire, a major vehicle
accident, and most recently, a flood. The fire was expertly extinguished
leaving a part of the house intact and with a few adjustments, living space
still available. Although the RV we were towing was a total loss, our truck was
repairable and EMTs easily patched up our superficial wounds. Fortunately we
were able to move our fifth-wheel out of the way of the rapidly rising water.
The flood caused us only the loss of a gas can and some inconvenience.
Rapid
intervention stopped our fire before it could run to total destruction. The
accident was over in moments and help was soon available. The river however
just kept rising. Firemen quelled the fire; loss of momentum ended the
accident; there was no human or physical intervention able to stop the increase
of the water. It continued in its own time, at its own, rapid pace, until the
river crested a day and a half later.
We
stayed outside our home on the driveway until the fire was extinguished. We
walked away from the accident. We had to flee the onslaught of the river
because we had no idea when the water would stop rising. This was not the first
time the river had left its banks during the eleven years we have summered in
this valley, but this time the water was rising at a rate we had never before witnessed.
These
three life altering events although minor by comparison brought me into
momentary kinship with the multitude of my fellows who have experienced the
terror of an out-of-control fire, the suffering and inconvenience of a vehicle
accident, and the feeling of helplessness in the face of rising water. I was
also reminded how wonderful is the support of fellow humans in time of need and
how helpless we are regardless when faced with the uncontrollable raging of
Nature.
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