Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Today is the fifth anniversary of the massive tornado outbreak that changed all of us in Alabama.  A few weeks ago, we drove to Hackleburg, one of the hardest hit areas on that long April day. The tornado's path is still clear; the hillsides are still covered with tin and twisted trees. Very few buildings in the old downtown area survived.  One of those left standing was the Bank of Hackleburg, although it was damaged and the roof was gone. Hackleburg is rebuilding, and a restaurant is now in the renovated bank building.  It is named The Vault Bakery Cafe, after the bank's vault that survived the storm and is now part of the restaurant. Pictures of the tornado damage are displayed on the original brick walls. The food is fantastic.  According to Hub, it has the best pork chops in the world. They have a Facebook page  here , where you can find their hours and menu.  We highly recommend this place.

It is April, and along with the beautiful springtime comes the threat of tornadoes.   We are approaching the 4th anniversary of the superstorms that hit the South on April 27, 2011.  Writer Kim Cross has given us a permanent record of that day in her new book, What Stands in the Storm . The book reminded me of the sorrow and pain of that day, and also the joy of knowing how people helped one another in the aftermath of the storms.  She offers information that we did not hear on the news and stories that need to be remembered. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially those who experienced those storms firsthand. Before, we took the darkening skies as a kind of inconvenience, thought to ourselves how inconvenient it might be when the lights winked out.  After, the funerals lasted for days.  We would never look at the sky the same way again.  ~Rick Bragg

Monday and Tuesday were stormy here and all across the south.  We had much destruction just twenty miles from our home, but we were safe with no damage. Ten of us gathered in our basement and watched the Weather Channel and Huntsville stations that had continuous weather coverage.   We saw a tornado sweep down on Tupelo, Mississippi. We prayed and watched in horror as the twister sped through the city. Tupelo is about ninety miles from here.  Today, the people there are recovering and making plans to rebuild. My parents lived through the massive tornado outbreak  that leveled Tupelo in 1936.  We heard about it just about every time there was a storm when I was growing up.  Mama would look at the storm clouds and compare them to the ones "the day that Tupelo got blown away".  I found this clip of the 1936 storm on the Internet; I don't know who to credit for making this video. Storms are a part of life in the South.  We are thankful ...