January 5, 2006

COLUMBUS: After that Tsunami hit a year ago, I was kinda praying we would be spared such bad news this time. We haven’t had anything close to that tidal wave, but it seems every night there’s another small disaster. Of course, it’s only small if it ain’t happening to you.

First, we had rainstorms flooding California. At the same time, Oklahoma and Texas were bone dry, somebody lit a match and suddenly thousands of acres, hundreds of homes, a couple of Texas towns (and part of Guthrie and Oklahoma City) were burned to ashes. On January 2, the fires were still raging, and the Rose Bowl Parade was getting drenched when we learned that 13 coal miners were trapped in West Virginia.

In West Virginia, the news was on a pendulum. They had a coal mine explosion (that’s bad), then West Virginia University won the Sugar Bowl (that’s good). It’s taking a long time to reach the miners (bad), then they found ’em (great, hallelujah!), then they’re all dead but one (that’s horrible). And it is horrible for all but the one that’s still hanging on. There’s something tragic about death in a coal mine that draws our interest more than usual. I bet there’s not a state that in the last week hasn’t had at least a dozen shot and killed, or died in an automobile, and yet you won’t read about half of ’em in your local newspaper.

In the Rose Bowl last night, the rain had stopped and Texas ended the reign of Southern California, 41-38. It was a great game to watch, and capped a string of tight games. Did you notice the other big Bowl winners were located fairly close to each other: Penn State, West Virginia U., and Ohio State?

Back to the news, Mr. Sharon needs our prayers in Israel, several Muslim pilgrims died in Mecca, and terrorists continue to kill in Iraq. And in the Atlantic Ocean there’s another hurricane looking for a place to land. You can’t blame the folks in Oklahoma if in their prayers for all these other folks tonight they include a plea for that hurricane to jump to Tulsa and slowly head west.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“Rumor travels faster, but it don’t stay put as long as truth.” WA #65, March 9, 1924

(Beverly Hills, Calif.) “We need rain. This is not just an admission, I will make it a motion that it be called a prayer, take it from a tax payer, and a man that still has vacant lots to sell. It hasn’t rained here since Noah took two of every kind of moving picture actor and actress into the Ark with him. Moths have lived on raincoats for years… This is mighty dry humor, but, friends we would welcome the Johnstown flood right now”. DT #1074, Jan. 3, 1930.