We here in the midwest were treated yesterday to a force of nature. A straight wind, as opposed to a tornado (twisting) event came blowing through in the afternoon. The day had been extremely hot and humid, a precursor for those things I believe when a little rain came down and then you could hear it coming. Then you could see it coming. Today we were lucky, it tore into my neighbors very large maple tree and it made a very loud crack and limbs flew off or broke off and fell down. Items on decks were randomly chosen and flew away or crashed down. Then as quickly as it came, it was over. There was more to it, but the point I want to make is that the power of nature can be frightening as it shows our complete vulnerability to it. A week or two ago we were at Niagara Falls and watching the water from our vantage point in the gorge. The power of the water, even though controlled by man, was awe-inspiring. Then thinking back to the tsunami of last year reminds me of the dominance of old mother nature when she gets her back up.