NATURE'S NUMBING NEMESIS From the West, the whirlwind whooshes wildly, a voracious vortex like a vicious vacuum-cleaner, turning sturdy homes into matchbox timber, roofs rigidly rolling relentlessly. We call it a tornado in Oklahoma and Kansas. Nature calls it her yo yo. Howling swirling gusts smash neighborhoods as if some enormous child had a temper tantrum because the batteries on his toys went dead. There is a deathly silence now, the skies reddened by the …showed first 75 words of 324 total…

…showed last 75 words of 324 total…the sun shine on her havoc, a brief respite, a ray of hope for forlorn and frightened families. "Rebuild! Insure!" TV anchors confidently chatter away. Nature has once again proved that she cannot, will not, dare not be tamed. Gamble if you will, Modern Man! Caterpillars and John Deeres are matchbox toys. I still hold the trump carts in the game of survival: Heads I win,. Tails you lose. Like the Terminator, I'll be back!