And thinking today

 This weekend - Saturday night - there were massive storms, spawning several tornadoes, to the west of me. Ardmore got hit. We have been asked to "extend grace" to students from there who may be unable to get in to take finals this week. (I have not heard from anyone though it's possible checking in with a professor would be low on someone's list.)

And Sulphur got hit. Got hit very badly, in fact. When I went to bed Saturday night, I was hoping the reported tornado was one of those that sort of skipped along high up and maybe damaged some roofs but that was it.

I was wrong. The entire little downtown looks destroyed. The Italian place I ate at a year or a year and a half ago when I was up there is in ruins; the Native-run art cooperative that featured woven items (and I wanted one, but it wasn't in the budget for me at that point) was gone. Lots of rubble. One person died; a sports bar collapsed and she was crushed under the roof that came down. (Another woman - the owner - was rescued)

Apparently The Artesian Hotel is okay; at least I've not heard of any damage to it. I always had a silly idea to book an overnight room there and then spend two full days in the park and the vicinity (there's also the Chickasaw Heritage Center, a sort of museum). That will have to wait for a good bit, now, apparently. 

The park also took damage. The only thing the NPS webpage says is that "all parts" of it took storm damage, and that it's closed until further notice.

No, I probably wouldn't have gone up there for a while (still not really able to hike), but it makes me sad.

The Disciples church in Sulphur was damaged; we had a program for the SE region Disciples churches at my church last afternoon and (understandably) no one from Sulphur or Ardmore came (Ardmore had no electricity) but the pastor from Pauls Valley came and she showed photos the pastor at Sulphur sent her - bricks down, a window damaged. 

It's sad and kind of unbelievable and very close to home. I KNOW some of the businesses wiped out in Sulphur. I was planning to get permission to do some sampling in CNRA this summer! And now.....nope. I need to leave them to take care of the important things. 

I dunno; it just feels like another loss in a long, long string of them; a having to constantly reconfigure my life around the absences (and there really are no NEW things all that much)

I was also weirdly thinking this morning again about Elann. Elann used to be a yarn website. In the early days I used them, they had mostly closeouts - all kinds of unusual yarns, some I never otherwise saw, sold for deep discounts. As I remember, they put new things up on either Monday or Wednesday and I remember going on there, hoping there was something cool.

Later on, I guess they got their own mill, or contracted with an existing mill, and sold own-branded yarns. (And like a LOT of those businesses, gradually pivoted to almost entirely own-branded yarns....and now I think they're gone). 

I've also noticed more empty storefronts of late, both in my own little downtown (though we still have the bookstore!) and in places like Denison. Some of this may be just economic forces but I also wonder if online shopping is slowly eliminating what is for me, one of the few "third places." As I've said before, if we wind up in a world where there's little point in leaving home, that's bad for me - there is no one at home with me, and I am alone. And if my life dwindles to "go to work, go to the grocery store once a week, really only see people at church (and I don't know how long the congregation I'm in will keep going)," there's a not out there FOR me - I still haven't found any other clubs that either interest me or that meet at a time I can do with my work schedule.

And this injury has caused me some horrible recalibrations - what if I AM never good enough again to do much physical stuff? If I can't hike, I can't volunteer at Chickasaw in retirement (that was a plan I had earlier). Traveling would be harder. No way to do pickleball (another thing I'd thought of trying). 

I don't know. I've never been exactly good at weathering some of the buffets of everyday life, but it seems lately it's gotten harder - as I said, there are more things taken from me and fewer things given.

And yes, I know I was incredibly fortunate this weekend - in my town, all we got was heavy rain. My house is undamaged; the church building for the congregation I belong to was able to host the meeting because it was also undamaged. And I need to find a reliable agency that's providing help to the folks in Sulphur and send some money this way. But this morning, I'm melancholy, and looking sadly at the photos of the destruction. (And also realizing that could v. easily have been MY town instead)