What can I write about today? What can I say? I could write about the tornado that struck Moore and the incredible outpouring of help and compassion shown by not only other Oklahomans but the world. I, as a photographer really am fascinated by natural disasters and the power of mother nature, but I have little desire to photograph other's devastation or pain. As Oklahomans we all know that the disaster could have been any one of us. We all live our springs on the edge of danger, carefully watching the clouds and monitoring the weather like it were a great athletic championship game. We teach our small children where to go in a storm and what to watch for in the clouds. We take Gary England seriously when he says to get underground and take cover. He's our local weather superstar. But, despite the risks of the weather we still love Oklahoma, our home.
The storm continued and by afternoon the rain moved on and we headed out for a drive to see how full the creeks were.
I am not going to write a post about tornadoes and Oklahoma and the damage that has already been done. I will show you what my part of Oklahoma looked like today. The earth brought to life by the drenching rains, the flowering earth and the air that was filled with the sweet smell of spring. We needed this rain. Oklahoma is a beautiful state if you've never been here. It is a land of plains, forests and mountains, desert and water. Oklahoma was a scary place yesterday as tornado sirens blared outside of my home and my shaking, scared children feared they too, could lose their home. But our fear quickly passed and we spent the evening obsessing over the news and seeing the tragedy that unfolded just an hour away from us.
Moore was devastated. If you're interested in donating to the Tornado relief please check out this website: Tornado Relief Information from OU
It is a beautiful site seeing the water fill our often too dry creek beds. I do believe that some of our drought problems are man-made. We have dammed our rivers and creeks to make man-made lakes and resevoirs and forget that we have changed the earth, we've taken water that for millions of years that carved its way throughout our world in it's channels and streams and stopped it. We've altered the environment, yet we don't speak of this because we need our water and we can't imagine the world without our lakes which are the product of man.
The water was rushing under this bridge, I thought it was impressive until we drove down the road to another bridge. Here is another facebook page which is compiling information about Moore: Moore Tornado Facebook Page - It is heartwrenching and then seeing all the images of devastation paired with lost pets. So many of us were in paths of storms yesterday and yet these are the people who once again beared the brunt of the fury of the earth. I remember May 3, 1999 vividly and living in Rush Springs- storm chasers were sitting on the county road next to my house watching storm clouds - as they formed to the north. Once again we in Grady county were fortunate, while it headed off towards the city.
The loud, roaring water rushing madly through the stream is a more welcome sight than our long, hot summer of 2011. Where the grasshoppers dominated the fields and 115 degree days became our norm for a short period of time. We don't know what this summer will bring, but hopefully these rains and future rains will help sustain our Oklahoma during the dry season.
The power of this rushing creek could be heard and seen. The power of the earth is stronger and will outlast that of man. But, isn't Oklahoma a beautiful place in the Spring? You can see why we live here despite the worrisome weather we can sometimes have.
This creek is where another creek is merging into it creating a river that is not a "river" it is still Wild Horse Creek. The creek that Fort Arbuckle was built upon in the 1840s by the US Government to provide protections to the Chickasaws who were forced to relocate here from Alabama.
My tour guide disappeared down into the creek bed.. almost. I would like to say "don't EVER try this at home.." -- so I climbed on down beside him. Briefly, but not that close to the water.
But close enough to get this shot.
I do love seeing our creeks filled with water, this looks to be what creeks everywhere should look like.
I just found a Moore Lost and Found page on Facebook. It's heartbreaking. I can't imagine losing a loved one to a storm.
But I think despite the tragedy this week, so many of us will say that Oklahoma is our home.
I believe that no matter how bad things may get there is something good in every single day. You have to believe it and find it. But, in my heart I know it will be a long time for those who lost their children. So those people need your thoughts and prayers for healing.
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