Newscoma

It was one of those weekends to go in the books of Newscoma.

I was Aunt Tick all day on Saturday. I watched the niece play a “street ball” type of softball tournament early in the morning. The issue came down to that after Friday night’s asshattery where her confidence was so annihilated, Homer believed the best thing to do was get back on the horse. And she did. She was good. My niece will never be the best player on the team, but she probably be taught to be a utility player, which is important. The coach (a different one) who didn’t know about Friday was gentle but firm and she responded by his interest. She seemed to find her balance.

Later, we saw the youngest niece cheer at a Pee Wee Football game. Incredibly cute although it appeared her interest was in the boys sitting on a nearby bench more so than the cheering. Homer handled it, as she is wont to do.

Two bands played Hoots last night. One of them was inspired by The Dempseys and rocked the house. The other one was all original material with a young woman singing her ass off. Incredible. I’m seeing some progressive things happen in Hoots and I couldn’t be more delighted. I love it when people see outside the box and take action instead of throwing a bunch of meaningless words around. I applaud these folks.

But it was Sunday that kicked our hineys. I confirmed that the winds here were 50 mph mid-morning and our basketball goal fell leaving a black streak down the side of my car but it could have been much worse. SQ and I got in the car and followed the volunteer fire department around. The debris was amazing and it was hard to stand at times as high winds ripped around us. Trees and limbs were everywhere. Some parts of the county were hit so bad that it was advised for us not to go because they were afraid we might get hurt. The power was out for about and hour and a half and the town literally shut down. The grocery store locked it’s doors as did the local McDonalds/convenience stores. Internet service was also out for much of West Tennessee. Several counties lost power and I wondered what would happen if we had a “real” disaster here. The only thing you could see on the roads were limbs. Metal buildings were overturned and at the local cemetery had a huge tree come down on some of the older graves. Chainsaws were common place and volunteers showed up with backhoes and tractors to assist the fire department move fallen trees.

We were fortunate that was all that happened. One fireman told me he was just glad no one got hurt.

We all were.

There is a vibe in news around here right now that is crackling with anticipation and some anxiety.

From the economy to events that are beyond our control, we sit and wait.