Windsor Tornado

You may have seen pictures of what happened last Thursday in our little bit of paradise.

To put this in perspective, tornados have been plowing through our neck of the woods for decades. It's just with the most recent housing boom, the crop and pasture land that previously it blew through have grown houses, not wheat or corn.

It is true that the Brown Cow Dairy operation near the missle silo has been there for years, and it is cerainly unfortunate that Oscar Michael Manchester lost his life in the same vicinity. But, as I said, in prior times, the tornados flattened crops and the occasional outbuilding, and seldom struck populated areas.

For all of that, the sounds I have been hearing from Windsor have been along the line of: "We'll get through this."

It is also important to note that later Thursday evening, Windsor's mayor John Vazquez declared a Disaster and requested aid from our Governor Ritter. Governor Ritter officially declared it a disaster area as well, and placed a request to FEMA for federal aid. In other words, they followed chain of command, and didn't just assume FEMA was going to pop up and take care of them (certain cities and state to the south, please take note). And most of the work will be done by the good people of Windsor, helped out by friends and neighbors from nearby towns. I understand that Larimer County to our west has given Weld County (where Windsor is located) one million dollars from their own disaster budget.

But, as I said, the majority work will be done by the good citizens of Windsor. They have been working through the holiday weekend to clean up the debris. Their rest will come later.

What keeps them going, though, is the notion of getting it done; some need to fall back and regroup (who wouldn't?), others are doing what they can already.

And if they can do it, so can you.

Yes, you can.

Now, for Something Completely Different...

... I must have been in a half doze these past two weeks to not have written at least something! I can't offer any excuse except that of poor planning (Click here) and a new work schedule.

The real reason? I didn't make the time for it.

What's the real reason that things don't get done in your life? When we face facts, it's pretty much the same thing: we didn't make time for it.

There's many ways of saying the same thing, ways that offload the responsibility to someone or something else, if only a little bit: "I'm over-committed", "Something came up", "I got too busy with (name the important thing done instead)", etc.

We are all well-meaning on our commitments, and our inability to say "no" to a new commitment means that we have plenty of excuses when the important things fall by the wayside. Important things like getting that gift for your wife/hubby/child -- a gift that's not just the first thing you see at the store. Like taking time to listen to the conversation; taking time to have the conversation in the first place; playing catch with the little one before he or she grows out of the 'fun' stage. With luck and attention, the 'fun' stage of their life will continue through to adulthood.

If you haven't done this before, or even if you have, take a piece of paper, fold it in half length-wise and write down all the things that are important to you to accomplish before-- well, for me at my age it'll be before I die -- on the left side. On the right side of the paper list all of your responsibilities. Now prioritize them.

On my "want to accomplish" side I have listed: write a book. On my "responsibility" side I have taking care of our little one until she's all grown up. One of my "want to accomplish" is "visit Easter Island during the total solar eclipse, something I think would be great to take the little one along so she could see something special first-hand.

So, some of your "want to accomplish" goals can dovetail with your responsibilities. See how many you can dovetail like that.

Have Fun! Be Responsible! Plan and Prioritize!

Yes You Can!