The Heart Of The Storm!

At 1:30am the storm hit. It had been a long day as Sundays around here are wont to be. A slow day and the hours usually drag on so the end of the work shift is a relief. Monday, today, and Tuesday are our new off days so we three, along with Bethany, settled in at home for a nice relaxing weekend.

We had dinner, Laura and Jesca came home while we were eating and joined us, watched a movie and drank some wine. After midnight I retired to my attic and began a long overdue letter to my friend Gisele. I heard the wind and rain start, which is usually exciting to me especially when I'm writing because it makes the mood better in my opinion. Then the lights flickered twice...and went out. The sound of the wind was terrible.

My attic door opened and Emily yelled up, "Hey, Lora wants us all downstairs." Using my cell phone to light my way I went to the first floor where everyone had gathered in the living room. Lora was on her phone, Laura and Jesca were snuggled up, half asleep, on the love-seat, Bethany was sitting on the floor drinking wine and Emily rushed to my side as soon as I came downstairs. She was the only one acting nervous because she's had this constant thought about tornadoes since what happen to Joplin, a city the size of Quincy and not too far from here, as the crow flies.

I took her hand and started to assure her that everything was going to be okay. That's when the tree came through our huge picture window, and literally, all hell broke loose!

The force of the wind and rain was blinding. It was as if all at once our beautiful serene living room had turned into a raging storm. By the time I recovered my senses Lora was already dragging me by the arm to the pantry in the middle of the house. When we built it we made sure it had reinforced walls because we have to go outside to get in the cellar. Lora wanted to make sure we had shelter inside in case we couldn't make it there and thankfully she did.

It was a very confusing few seconds but we all made it to the pantry and huddled together under the shelves. Everyone except Lora, that is. Through the horrible sound of the raging wind I managed to hit a button on my cell phone to light up the pantry and saw Lora. While the rest of us were clinging onto one another in fear, she was standing at the door holding it shut with all her might. She looked so heroic and in my heart I felt safe. I pulled away from Emily, who was gripping me so hard it hurt, and rushed to the door to help Lora.

I could feel that door shake still even though we were both putting all our weight on it. Lora screamed at me,"Get back under there!," but I didn't listen and stayed right by her side. We stood there, pushing against that door for what seemed like forever, but finally it got quiet. It was short lived silence. Before anyone could comment the wind started again. This time we could hear what sounded like thousands of pebbles crashing into our living room.

Emily screamed, "It's hailing!" And the word tornado raced through mine and I'm sure everyone Else's heads. For a very few seconds it got so loud and the force against the door so strong that I really thought that we wouldn't be able to hold it. Someone, I think Jesca, was crying and screaming "No! No!," and just as soon as it started, it stopped. We waited inside the pantry for about fifteen minutes in the dark, Lora and myself reassuring the others that it was over, before we finally opened the door.

It was dark still, but lightning flashes in the distance showed us that the tree was actually only a very large branch and by then it was in our dining room. The force of the wind had pushed it through the house and left just about everything in it's path destroyed. The entire first floor of Brier Rose Court was, and still mostly is, in shambles.

Within minutes of the storm's passing we had people coming from all around the community. Everyone went out to inspect the damage and when people saw what had happened to our house they started to gather here. By 8:am the lights were back on and the clean-up began.

While working I noticed Lora's face. She had three little nicks and a small line of dry blood on her cheek. It happened when the tree branch shattered our front window. The glass had hit her right in the face. "Heroes get hurt when being heroes," I thought, and immediately took her to clean it up. We were sitting in the bathroom alone, while I was cleaning her face Lora started crying, something as you all know, she rarely does.

"Our home...," she managed to murmur out through the tears. All I could do was hold her and try not to cry myself.

There are trees down all over the community. All over Quincy, too, I hear. Windows were blown out and mud sloshed up on the sidewalks, but no major damage except to Brier Rose Court. The guys, my stepdad and Jacob, have already put a plastic sheet over the window and tomorrow will install new glass, but all our furniture, wall pictures, knick-knacks and everything else in the living room, including some very expensive drapes, and dining room are pretty much worthless now. Our dining room table and three of the six chairs are still usable, and thankfully the kitchen was untouched. The second floor and my attic are also okay, so we can still live here, but it's going to take time to make it a home again.

http://www.whig.com/story/news/Storm-Web-062711
~Sara<3

The State of Crisis in the DC Universe!

Which comics do I currently buy, Jim? None. I haven't bought a comic in over a year and have a six month pile to catch up on before deciding if I'm going to buy any more. I was mostly buying Marvel but am not a big fan of Luke Cage, Spider-woman or Bucky and Spider-man became too confusing. After the Fantastic Four was canceled I stopped having the desire to catch up on that, too. I think I got up to issue nine of UC Spider-man then lost interest in that.

However, with what is going on in DC I might just go out and pick up a few of them. Here's why...
Crisis on Infinite Earths was an amazing story that was needed at the time and has spawned twenty-five years of great stories by the best creators in comics. It ushered in a new age for DC and the universe has not been the same since. Unfortunately what it has been is a mess.

Crisis planned poorly for the future and left too many things fucked up. (Hawkman, the Doom Patrol and Aquaman are just three things that have not been fixable.) So it's time to retcon the entire thing out of existence and put the Crisis Universe into a box and on a shelf. I hope that is what they're doing.

Take the ninety year old Flash and Green Lantern and put them in a box, too, along with all that Earth 2 stuff. Retro had it's day, and will again, but now is the time for redesigning everything. I'm a huge fan of the original Superman movie but if I hear that song one more time I'll scream!

Watchmen...
Yeah, I said it, Alan Moore did a work for hire and created characters that could not only be a goldmine, but a fantastic creative playground. I hope Geoff Johns and Jim Lee open their eyes and incorporate Rorschach into the fold also. Then Nite-owl, Dr Manhattan and the rest. Rorschach number one released in 1988 would have been a million seller and with the right creative team he could be at Wolverine level now. Alan Moore never wants to work for DC again so fuck him and his crabby old ass.
Of course, that's just my opinion.

~Sara<3 br="">

Tiny Little Lesbians All In A Row

First night of Summer. Though you wouldn't know it from where I sit. My attic at Brier Rose Court has only one window and I've covered it with a black trash bag so no light gets in. The central air is on full blast, so chilly that I've put on a sweater. It's late and we have just finished the second biggest weekend the community has all year. The community center opened it's outdoor cafe for the season and everyone came...and stayed. They're mostly still there actually. The bonfire is lit in Adam's Field and people are still camped out there. Lora, Emily, Bethany, Laura, Jesca and myself are tired and sore and grouchy all. Right now none of can really stand to be in the same room with the others. Right now we just want to be alone. First night of Summer. It's cold tonight.

There are six of us now living at Brier Rose Court. We three, are still together and still strong. Laura and Jesca are closer than ever before, have spoken of marriage when it becomes legal, and mostly stay in their own little world, keeping all others at arms length. My sister has grown in ways that I hadn't expected. She's a young woman now and has a good head on her shoulders.

Bethany has been living with us since January. She was with us for a few months last Summer but as soon as one of the community apartments opened up she moved out. She was lonely there by herself and we asked her to move back in right after Yule. Now, before you all get excited, there's nothing going on with her. At least not in a sexual way. Bethany has become part of our lives but she's not a lesbian. She tries to be. Never talks about guys, girls only, watches lesbian movies, goes to lesbian websites, reads lesbian literature. Yeah, she tries, but stick a pussy in her face and she wouldn't know how to act.
I don't mean to talk down about Bethany. She's important to us and has really devoted herself to the community this last year. She dated my cousin Danny for a minute but they didn't click. (Danny has a lot of growing up to do.) Now she's always with us, bedtime excluded, and we three really enjoy her presence. But she really wants to be a lesbian and part of our relationship and can't.

We still love to watch her try. :)
Life hasn't been very exciting this past year. Elder Malcolm's death left a void that had many of us scared for the future. But this community is strong and for over a century and a half we've fought to stay alive. This was no different and in the end we not only survived but now have a new structure and goals and the community will prosper for a long time. There hasn't been much time for play. I usually work six days a week and sometimes an extra half day if something needs to be done. Lora was on call all the time.

This past weekend there were at least three hundred people in and around the community center. It was a celebration of life and of self and of the future and about the close of a long journey and the beginning of a new one. Until October when we have to get ready for the All Hallow's Eve Festival, Lora, Emily, Bethany, Laura, Jesca and myself are taking two mandatory days off each week. We've chosen Mondays and Tuesdays. The weekends are too busy at the community center and the community store for Lora and I to not be at our respective positions, (Have you ever thought you'd hear that about me?) to be away. Mondays have always been called "Sleepy Mondays" around her anyway.

To; Diana, Haze, Jim, Kent, Jessica, Xander, Moony, and anyone I've left off... missed ya!