Tornadoes!

There are some days when even the most carefully laid plans get blown to smithereens by a tornado. A tornado, of course, being any inconvenient wrench that gets thrown in well-oiled machinery of your day. In just the past two days, I've been a sympathetic ear to countless tornado victims.

• A cash-strapped, always-on-the-run friend of mine woke up to a car that wouldn't start.

• My dad got an unexpected and hugely dramatic business phone call, and was on a plane across the country in a matter of hours.

• A pregnant friend of mine went into labor.
  

And if you were in Bridgeport, CT, yesterday, your life got turned upside down by an ACTUAL tornado. The national weather service confirmed today that an EF-1 tornado touched down in the middle of the city during a series of strong thunderstorms that rocked much of the area.

(Yes, that's a highway billboard sign sitting on top of that building...)

So what do you do about a tornado making a dramatic entrance in your life? As far as I can tell, it boils down to the old "lemonade out of lemons" argument. Trying to see the silver lining, and all that.

Of course, I admit it's not always possible to turn something bad into something good. But sometimes it's not too much of a stretch. My friend with the busted car was stoked to be riding her bike more often. My dad may have a new business opportunity. And my pregnant friend? She's got a freakin' BABY!

Here's a video clip of a tornado touching down at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC:



Okay, okay. That was Liza Minelli. It's a bit of a stretch to call HER a tornado. But, this is my blog, so I make the rules. Besides, that video is one of my favorites. So deal with it. (And LOVE it.)