Tornado Weather is here! Hits Close to Home

With the severe weather we are having right now in SW Missouri,it makes me wonder why.Why we are having so many Tornado outbreaks and floods?I do live in what is called"Tornado Alley"here. I just read a news article here that one just hit my home town of Little Rock just a few minutes ago.The town i grew up in Cabot,Arkansas was hit pretty hard as well.It's just about 30 miles north of Little Rock.They have trees down,power lines,several businesses and homes hit.

Here is a video of the tornado caught on a police cruisers dash cam.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid823425597/bclid877032950/bctid1487554811

They just had a F-4 tornado hit there back in Feb. that tore through about 125 mile long path,killing 12,damaging at least 900 homes and 100 businesses. The month of April always suffers the most tornadoes on average. Tornadoes have always amazed me,that may sound crazy,but i have always wanted to understand them.They are the most violent,powerful storms on earth.Spring most always brings about Tornadoes. I do hate that they kill,hurt and destroy. We just had one hit here the other day in Buffalo,Mo. I was talking to my oldest daughter on the phone when she heard the sirens going off.She said "Go Mom"!Go to a shelter now!I guess i shouldn't take it so lightly i know. But i suppose when it's my time,i'll go anyway,no matter how. I often kid around with my children who live in Ga.,if i see one,i'll just grab on to the tail,and i'll see them in a few minutes lol.They holler"MOM"!

Have you ever seen the movie"Twister" starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton?It's about a group of scientists that try their hardest to discover what makes a Tornado tick.They made a device called"Dorothy"If you haven't seen it,do.You will be sitting on the edge of your seat all during the movie. I,have always wanted to do this all my life.I want to know what makes them"tick".I know,i'll never get the chance to,but i am,and will always be curious about them.I just wish i could have been one of them scientists. I guess maybe i watched too much Wizard of Oz growing up:)The greatest magical film ever made.

One day i'd like to ride along with Warren Faidley,the worlds most professional storm chaser.

I think,without these people we'd be in much higher risk.These Spotters,Storm Chasers,Tornado Chasers help to observe and report threatening weather.Their services are valuable,tho risking their lives. Then you have a group of people that are just thrill seekers,just doing it for the fun and enjoyment of doing it.This can be very dangerous i suppose.

I have found out within the last hour that all my family are safe,without power and lots of damage but not injured or hurt.

It just makes me want to understand these big monster storms more and more.

If I Die Before You Wake

http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm


If you never watch another.....watch this this Please

From: a Soldier in Iraq
Lyrics
If I die before you wake...


Back home now I know you're probably sleepin'
Over here it's the middle of the day
I finally found the time to write a letter
Sittin' here a half a world away


I heard about all them folks protestin'
As if I really want this war
But that don't stop me from believin'
There's just some things worth fightin' for

CHORUS
And if I die before you wake,
I pray the world will take
A good look at what God's given us
That we could only understand,
everything is in his hands
All we need is a little faith and trust
I want you to know it ain't too high a price to pay
If I die before you wake

Tell everybody that I miss them
And I can't wait to get back home
But until then I'll serve my country
And be proud to wear this uniform

CHORUS
No it ain't too high a price to pay
If I die before you wake

Loretta Lynn,A Coal Miners Daughter and my Idol

I felt compelled to create a blog of my most favorite of all time Idols...Mrs.Loretta Lynn.
I have had the honor of meeting her in person,and been to several of her shows.I have a great deal of admiration for her and have followed her growing up,her beautiful music playing all throughout our house with her powerful voice.I am proud to say i own every one of her songs and several albums.If you ever get the chance to see her perform...you won't regret it.



Loretta Lynn was born in Butcher Holler, KY,

on April 14, 1935. The second of eight children

born to Ted and Clara Webb, Loretta was

welcomed with open arms by the young couple.

With her parents blessing and encouragement,

young Loretta soon found her voice and a place

where it would be appreciated. During the first

twelve years of her life, she sang in churches

and at a variety of local concerts.

At thirteen she attended a pie social, bringing a pie she had baked using salt instead of sugar. The highest bidder not only won the pie but also got to meet the girl who had baked the pie.

At age thirteen, Loretta married Oliver "Mooney"
Lynn(aka. Doolittle or Doo, or “Mooney” for moonshine), a handsome 21-year-old fresh from the service who swept the young Loretta Webb off her feet. . Within the first few months of marriage,The couple married when Loretta was barely 14.

Mooney and Loretta's brother, Jay Lee Web, Jr.,

hitchhiked to Washington looking for work.

Fourteen year old pregnant Loretta stayed

behind until Mooney sent money and a train

ticket several months later.

Settled into a new state, fourteen year old

Loretta gave birth to her first child, Betty Sue, in

Custer, WA. As a young mother and housewife,

Loretta stopped singing publicly, and shared

her passion for music with her young daughter,

singing to her regularly.

By the time she was seventeen, Loretta had four

children. Inspired by his wife's vocal abilities,

Mooney bought his wife a guitar on her

eighteenth birthday, and Loretta began to teach

herself to play. Within a few months, Loretta

was writing her own music and with her

husband's encouragement, she began singing

with a local band on the weekends.

Loretta's big break came when Mooney entered

her in a local talent contest. Not only did she

win, but she also received a personal invitation

from Buck Owens to perform on his television

show. Her performance was well received and

caught the attention of Zero Records, who

immediately contacted her and offered a

recording deal. Loretta flew to LA in 1960, and

recorded one of her own songs, "I'm A Honky

Tonk Girl." Zero Records was a small firm and

didn't have the money to promote Loretta's new

single, so Mooney decided to do it himself. He

and Loretta began mailing the record across the

country, where it landed in the hands of radio

station owners and disc jockeys. Mooney then

packed the family and headed for Nashville,

where he hoped he and Loretta could plug the

record at local radio stations. The song was hit

even before they reached Nashville. The single

eventually climbed as high as number fourteen

on the charts.

Loretta's first single attracted the attention of

the Wilburn Brothers, who hired her to tour with

them in 1960. After pleading with her to relocate

to Nashville, Loretta and family moved to the

city in 1960. A year later, she became a regular

member of the Grand Ole Opry, had a number

one hit album, and gave birth to twin girls.

It didn't take long for Nashville to grab on to the

rising star. Loretta was offered a record deal

with Decca Records, and accepted. "Success,"

Loretta's first single with Decca Records was

released in 1962, and climbed all the way to

number six. For the next decade, Loretta

released honky tonk hit after hit, all of them

reaching the Top Ten List.

In 1966, longing for her own sound, Loretta

strayed from Honky Tonk, and began recording

singles that she had written. Over the course of

the next four years, Lynn pulled in 13 Top Ten

hits, and was hailed the best country music

lyricist ever.

In 1970, Loretta became the first ever female

country artist to receive a gold album. Conway

Twitty and Loretta formed a partnership and

released 5 successful hit songs. They were

awarded Duo of the Year by the Country Music

Association, and released seven more Top Ten

hits.

In the mid 1970s, Loretta put pen to paper,

writing the autobiography, "Coal Miner's

Daughter." Six years later, in 1976, Loretta's

book became a New York Times best seller. The

book would eventually be adapted to the screen

in 1980, and become a critically acclaimed hit

with Sissy Spacek winning an Oscar for her

performance. While the movie and the movie's

theme song climbed the charts, Loretta became

the only female country to to appear on the

cover of Newsweek, in 1973.

Despite her immense popularity as a result of

the movie, Lynn's never regained her popularity

in the music world. Her concerts were well

attended, but record sales were down. She had

two Top Ten hits in the he 1980s and was

elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, but

still made the decision to back away from the

recording studio, so that she could focus her

efforts on performances.

Today, Loretta is a successful businesswoman

who owns her own music publishing company.

She also owns and operates a "Dude Ranch" and

campground in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee,

featuring a plantation styled home that is an

exact replica of her childhood home.


http://www.lorettalynn.com/ranch/
You can get all things Loretta here
http://www.lorettalynn.com/shop/

Loretta continues to perform across the United States,

and has released several singles. Loretta and

Mooney's children take turns balancing the

responsibilities of the Loretta Lynn Ranch and

Campgrounds in Tennessee.

Under Water...Too Much Too Fast

We Lost one of our own here
MONETT, Mo. -- Searchers found the body of Mark Speir about two miles downstream from downtown Monett on Wednesday morning. The 19-year-old man fell into Kelly Creek on Tuesday afternoon and couldn’t grab onto a bridge because the current was too swift. His body was next to an abandoned mobile home park.
Speir is the fifth death from flash floods in southern Missouri this week. Parts of southern Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain between Monday and Wednesday.

The rains ended Wednesday but rivers across the region continue to rise.
This is where he fell in

Spring is in the Air

The Crocus peeked out beneath the cold earth's shell here in Missouri this morning,
What a Beautiful Sight to see,
They have survived yet another winter of Ice Storms,the worst in history,
They are tough,they don't care,
Waiting axiously for Spring,they close up in the Midnight Air
In Blues and Yellows from it's grave,Springs up the Crocus Fair

Luck of the Irish

May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you; May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Winter in Missouri

MISSOURI POEM


It's winter in Missouri
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Missouri
when the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Missouri
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!

Click to Give @ The Breast Cancer Site

Click to Give @ The Breast Cancer Site

A Favor to Ask,Please Help spread the word

Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is having
trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota
of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It
takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a
mammogram' for free (pink window(button) in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the
number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com

Click to Give @ The Breast Cancer Site



AGAIN, PLEASE TELL 10 FRIENDS TO TELL 10,

THANKS!!

~*Cherokee Rose*~: Cherokee Morning

~*Cherokee Rose*~: Cherokee Morning

Weathering The Storms

Ice Storm Feb. 11, 2008
a recap from Jan.12,2007 Ice Storm in the Ozarks of SW Missouri
It's the sounds we remember most. And the generosity of neighbors and strangers.
The kindnesses that made life tolerable during the days and weeks we were without electricity, cable, phones and running water.
The Neighbors pulling together in a time of crisis...walking down the streets, going door to door to offer a lending hand, giving food, hot coffee or to do laundry.
We had a generator on our Motor home, it had two extension cords running off it, constantly running for the 13 days we were without power. One going into our house, the other to our neighbors.
The closeness it brought to our family, our Daughter and son-in-law loosing power, running out in the storm ,to come to our home with two babies in arms, burst in the door to get out of ice coming down so hard and fast. We still had Power at this time ,but only for one day, before our power pole come crashing down, breaking from the base, loosing power .The days to come were all about survival, me making sure to make everyone as comfortable as possible, my husband keeping generator going, filled up with gas. There were lots of food cooked, Chilli, Stews, etc. ,big amounts to share with the whole neighborhood who didn't have any way to cook, much less stay warm.
The Winter Storm of Jan. 12,2007 here in SW Missouri...glistening sheets of ice
It first started on Friday evening, bringing limbs down within an hour, as it iced up very quickly.
I can still hear the constant and unsettling snapping of tree limbs, all night long, like loud gunshots, the sounds of exploding transformers, the revving up of chainsaws, the sounds of many long days of generators running,13 days to be exact.
It's Saturday now Jan. 13,2007
Daylight brings the errie look of a war zone, trees split in half or completely up rooted from the weight of the ice. The ones still standing, no matter how tall, their branches are bent over touching, froze to the ground. Our beautiful Bradford pear tree was split in half. Yards and properties feet deep in Fallen Trees, roads covered with downed power lines ,the damage so extreme, it will take a long time to recover.
No one had any Power, houses ruined, cars demolished by fallen trees.
People standing in streets in shock, just staring.
People helping people, the community pulling together, bringing out the best in human nature, trying to survive.
Sunday Evening, Jan.14,2007,it started raining, touching the trees, freezing on contact, making the weight of the ice on the tree limbs unbearable.
Loud sounds of trees crashing down all around the neighborhood, not knowing where to be exact and no way of knowing, no street lights to see by. I would try to go to sleep ,petrified of being killed by one of our huge trees come crashing down on top of me. Not only could you hear them outside in total darkness being ripped apart, but you could also feel the impact when they hit the ground.
The next 11 days would be long, until on Jan.25,2007 .
They turned our power on, only temporarily as the power lines were hung from the trees until it could be installed properly when our new pole could be put up. On Friday the 26th,they got our pole up, but had to wait till next week to get our power hooked to it.
Jan.29,2007,we have power lines hooked up, trying to get back to some normalcy. We Survived the Ice Storm of Jan 2007
February 11,2008 (just over a year later)
They are calling it Ice Storm 2008 , hit once again here in the Ozarks of SW Missouri
Raining, freezing temps ,causing everything to turn to ice once again.
More than 250 schools closed here and Government offices.
The only difference about this years Ice Storm is, we had so much tree damage last year, causing downed power lines, loosing power everywhere. The trees have all been pruned and cut back this past year, therefore leaving little to fall on power lines. The Ice is still so thick on lines, we are having some power outages, but not as bad, allowing the crews to get the power back up and running more quickly.
It's Tuesday, Feb. 12,2008.Theres Lots and lots of Black Ice.21 degrees here, with snow now coming down really hard on top of all this Ice.
I'm prepared and ready, on stand by ,with open arms to get the babies in, or to help out my neighborhood and community.
After all....it's only Two days until Valentines Day...."It's all about Love, and Weathering the storm together.... any storm".Theres a saying here in Missouri"If you don't like the Weather,stick around,it will change"

Gentle Rain,Soothing Sounds of Nature

A Video I Made for Sleep,Relaxation,Meditation
Gentle Rain,Soothing Sounds of Nature

Cherokee Morning

Video I made with Beautiful Native American Pictures,with Beautiful Background Music Cherokee Morning Song,by:Walela Lyrics We n' de ya ho, We n' de ya ho, We n' de ya, We n' de ya Ho ho ho ho, He ya ho, He ya ho, Ya ya ya Translation - We n' de ya ho Freely translated: "A we n'" (I am), "de" (of), "Yauh" --the-- (Great Spirit), "Ho" (it is so). Written as: A we n' de Yauh ho (I am of the Great Spirit, Ho!). This language stems from very ancient Cherokee

Check out my Slide Show!

Valentines

Valentine

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and height,My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.I love thee to the level of every day'sMost quiet need; by sun and candle-light.I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.I love thee with the passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my childhood's faithI love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath.Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.
- Elizabeth Barnett Browning

Love Inspired Quotes

You know how they say we only use 10 percent of our brains? I think we only use 10 percent of our hearts. -- Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers

There are a lot of things happening that show us that this, right now, is a time to love. -- Stevie Wonder in People

I know love at first sight can work. It happened to my parents. -- George Clooney on contactmusic.com

Lust is easy. Love is hard. Like is most important. -- Carl Reiner on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Men fall in love with their eyes. Women fall in love with their ears. -- Quoted by Dr. Phil McGraw on Dr. Phil

I am certainly not an authority on love because there are no authorities on love, just those who've had luck with it, and those who haven't. -- Bill Cosby

If the marriage needs help, the answer almost always is have more fun. Drop your list of grievances and go ride a roller coaster. -- Garrison Keillor on salon.com

Sometimes when almost everything is wrong, one thing is so right you would do it all again. -- Alice Randall in Elle

Love is overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate. -- Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate

Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener. -- Paula Deen on the Food Network

If you have a boat and a happy marriage, you don't need another thing. -- Ed McMahon in TV Guide

Here's the secret to a happy marriage: Do what your wife tells you. -- Denzel Washington in New York Daily News

Story Of Life

Story Of Life

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be (possibly your roommate, neighbor, coworker, long lost friend, lover, or even a complete stranger), *but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.* And sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart. *Everything happens for a reason.* Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul.Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless. The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become. *Even the bad experiences can be learned from.* In fact, they are probably the most important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious when you open your heart. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things. *Make every day count.* Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up high because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you. You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.And learn a lesson in life each day that you live. Most importantly!! *if you LOVE someone TELL them, for you never know what tomorrow may have in store.* It may never come...and thats The Story of Life ~Helen~