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West Meets East© By Caroline Patrick BorNei A Tornado, the Unbalanced Forces of Wind and Water
In the late afternoon of May 20th I called my brother to wish him a happy birthday. He and his wife were on their way out the door for a short vacation. I didn’t want to slow them up, so I said, “Have a great time and we’ll visit later.” Neither of us could imagine that within a few short hours our home town in the Midwest would be ripped away by one of the most powerful tornados in history.
We have both traveled and lived in many places during our lives, but home is where you grow up and family roots are deep. It’s a location of heart and soul. We grew up much luckier than some of our friends. As my brother described a few years ago, “We had it good, real good,” he said staring out the window. I could “see” his thoughts drift back to our childhood home. I watched the very handsome white-headed man recall the little boy who ran freely through the woods, played with our Dalmatian dogs, rode his bike so fast my tricycle couldn’t keep up, built model airplanes, played with his many friends and who also took many belt whippings for his careless actions. I asked him how he could dismiss the painful marks across his back. He smiled a huge grin and then said, “Yow, but Daddy never put his fist through the wall when he hit me, like my best friend’s father did every night.” Yes, we were raised in a very strict way and you followed the rules, or else. He was right on many levels. We lived in a very nice upper-class neighborhood and fared much better than some of our friends. Looking back I wondered why his buddy seemed to live at our house more than his own. His father was a well-known attorney. The best friend grew up to be quite prosperous, was a bank president for many years and still drinks himself to sleep every night. Yes, we were luckier than a lot of our friends in Joplin, Missouri.
It is very rare that I watch the TV news, but that night, the 22nd of May, it was on. I could hear the roar of familiar sirens that seem to come from the television. I ran across the room and sat spellbound waiting for the news caster to give the cities affected by the raging tornados on the radar map. I was instantly “back home” in Joplin. The sirens I heard on the television were installed by my former husband in 1969 all over the city of Joplin. They were the latest technology for warning citizens of an oncoming tornado. He spent many weekends installing these special instruments, as none of his crew wanted to work overtime. Now they were saving hundreds if not thousands of people within the six-mile path of this killer tornado. Within a few minutes the vicious winds had destroyed my parents’ first home, our daughter’s kindergarten, the parks for family picnics, where my great grandparents, grandparents and current family grew up. My mother’s childhood home, my father’s home from his youth, aunts’, uncles’, and cousins’ homes were gone, the churches leveled, the nursing home my mother was in several years ago, the high school, middle school, Fred and Reds Café where my parents dated and hung out, and a couple of homes from my marriage. I lost a cousin of 49 years, his mother and father’s home. I stared at the TV in the same fashion and feeling of loss I experienced from the 9-11 attack of our homeland. Nothing could be done. All phone lines and services were gone. I would wait till morning and begin calling anyone I could find.
The night was restless and full of strange dreams. My Chi or energy had just taken a large hit and I begin to think about the storm path and the Feng Shui of this land. There were always tornados in the Midwest during my youth, but never so wide, long and severe. As a child we rarely went to the basement, as there was no radio or TV that could warn of the coming storms; but the strange yellow and green silent stillness which made the hair on your arms stand up was enough warning. We looked to the skies, stopped playing and ran home for cover. I prayed and chanted every time I woke that night and waited till daylight to begin the vigil of finding family. I would first call my brother at their vacation get away in California. (to be continued)
Our September 14th Trip to the Middle Kingdom of Tibet will start in China and cross over into Tibet mid-trip. This is a lifetime wish and it has manifested! Caroline Patrick BorNei is a certified Feng Shui Practitioner and a Red Ribbon Professional of The International Feng Shui Guild. Her abilities as a consultant and artist are widely known in the US and abroad. Caroline has completed over 5000 consultations for individuals, large and small businesses. Return clients appreciate the value of her suggestions both mundane and transcendental, providing support on multiple levels. As a college art instructor for many years, Caroline understands the power of color; its symbolism and the visual effect images have on individuals in their surroundings. Her home base is Portland, OR where she continues to write, teach, paint, do illustrations and give herbal medicine making classes. She is available for Feng Shui consultations; Feng Shui art consultant, advises builders, architects and mentors a few serious students. Call (503) 208-2960 or email caroline@fengshuiartistry.com. Any suggestions given in this column are only for entertainment. Please contact your physician for any medical or herbal advice or diagnosis. Caroline Patrick is not responsible for any misuse of her advice or suggestions. Caroline’s “West Meets East” weekly newspaper column can be read from archives on her website www.fengshuiartistry.com.
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