Big, Bad Wolf

To view a slide show of storm damage, click here

At approximately 3:10 a.m. this morning I awoke to the closest thing mother nature can get to a laser-light show. The wind was so forceful that it swirled my upstairs patio furniture around like the tines of a wind chime. It reminded me of that game children often play around the time they hit puberty," suck and blow", where you lace a toothpick through a lifesaver and attempt to blow it into your opponent's lips. I watched as countless dollars worth of patio furniture moved violently back and forth, just like that lifesaver, as though the wind from the east was competing against the the wind from the west.

I sat there in bed, stupidly, listening for signs of tornadic activity or sirens or really anything that would catapult me into action. You always think that you will know what to do in times like that. You don't. My husband and I just sat there in paralyzing awe of the incredible forces of nature, hoping our brick house high on the hill would be substantial enough to protect us. In retrospect, with a house that is mostly made up of large windows, we probably should have " duck and covered" downstairs in the restroom, which, aside from the "Harry Potter-style" cupboard under the stairs, is the only safe room in the house.

We have a giant Bradford Pear tree in our backyard. It is a very old and stately tree. It is so stately in fact, that we actually built our wooden deck around it. I love that giant tree. I love to imagine all of the different families that tree has shaded, how many birthday party decorations have hung from its branches, how many landmark events throughout history that tree has stood through. But it couldn't hold through this one storm? There was no sound, at least no sound that I could hear through the tempest. There was no warning. The wind blew and suddenly half of the tree just vanished from sight.

Other things flew away without the shelter of that giant tree. The wrought iron railing came unhinged from the upstairs patio, a giant ladder, chaise lounges, outdoor ottomans and the blades to an outdoor ceiling fan all lay strewn about the herb garden, at least, those that escaped the crushing blow of the fallen tree.

We ran downstairs after we saw the tree fall. It completely eclipsed the patio entrance off the kitchen. To see a tree, leaves still green and vibrant contrasted against that tangled mess of twisted metal, broken glass, wrecked furniture, a gas grill that I can barely move with all of my body strength and a giant water hose reel is simply too surreal to describe.

Inside the family room, I could feel wind blowing through the wall and water around my toes. The heavy metal pane encasing a large French-style window had been moved forward nearly two inches by the wind, allowing rain and leaves to blow freely into the room. Both Kirk and I leaning on it couldn't push this frame back in line with the wall. I have no idea how we will fix it.

They said on the news this morning that they winds reached a force of nearly 90 miles per hour. These were, for the most part, "hurricane-force" winds. They are uncertain as to whether or not any tornadic activity occurred or if it was just a "straight-line" wind. I know from my perspective that I have never experienced anything like it. The damage it did and the manner in which it did it was like a delicate ballerina performing at a Slayer concert. Chaos completely surrounding these calculated, precise arrangements of trees, cars and things.

I feel very fortunate that we didn't incur more damage to our home and that today, we still have our health and each other. My heart goes out to those of you who live in Hurst, Breckenridge, Carrollton, Allen or any of the other areas that were badly hit by this storm. Last night, Texas faced its first attack of the big, bad wolf. My hopes are that the remainder of the spring will remain "wolf-free".

Wallets open wide for children in Cowtown

This past Saturday night was the annual hospital fund-drive Gala for the Moslah Shrine, and my husband and I were more involved with it this year because Kirk is the entertainment chair for the Shrine's Patrol unit. We were a little disheartened this year because attendance was not what it has been in year's past, which is a shame because, in many ways this gala is a true throw-back to what fundraisers are and should be.

The evening begins with a cocktail hour that provides ample time to walk around, compliment other folks on their attire, do that scream/hug thing where you declare " OMG, I haven't seen you in SOOOO long!", and most importantly, to allow the complimentary beer and margaritas to loosen up your cash-spending inhibitions.

Once dinner begins, ladies must place all of their trust in waterproof cosmetics because the gala always highlights a child that has benefited from the Shrine Children's hospitals. This year we met a little girl named Leigh who had brittle-bone disease. She was quite fragile and had even broken her wrist three times and healed in the womb. I was holding strong with the tears until her father spoke and you could truly imagine what this must have been like for Leigh's parents.

Her family was not wealthy, they were desperate for answers and faced with an uncertain future caring for child with very special needs. They had no idea how they would pay their medical bills or protect Leigh from broken bones. When the doctor suggested that they turn to the Shrine hospital, he couldn't imagine that there could be state-of-the-art care for Leigh that would have no accompanying bills or expenses. Fast-forward to Saturday night, and Leigh sat, happily smiling in a tiny wheelchair wearing an adorable pink cowboy hat and singing the National Anthem!

It dawned on me at that moment; all of our stress, the extra expenses, the last minute sign-printing and fussing over details, the planning parties and running around all came down to helping children like Leigh. When the evening's MC, television news anchor Mike Snyder called out to the audience to stuff the envelopes from their table with $100 bills and hold them above their heads, I was, for lack of a better description, overwhelmed. I looked around this crowd of nearly 800 people and saw a sea of paper appear,and uncontrollable tears streamed down my face.

The generosity continued throughout the evening from the live auction, to the silent auction and in the casino, which was our (mine and Kirk's) main responsibility. Time and time again as I asked folks to exchange their real money for "casino money", they laughed, handed me a $20 or a $50, sometimes a $100 and declared with a smile, " hey, it's for the children."

As the event came to a close and the exhausted host-committee members began to clear the table decorations and take down tables, all I could think about was, "Wow, what a great city we live in! What selfless people there are in Fort Worth to give so much for people they have never met. What a relief the hospital must have been to Leigh's mother and father, and countless other families."

So for that, (and in case it isn't said enough)I would like to offer a very hearty and sincere " Thank you!" to Shriners in this and every other city. You make this world a much better place in which to live.

Humble Beginnings

My friend, J Mil, once told me that if I were to blog, I could become a web superstar. Somehow I seriously doubt it, but hey J Mil, this Blog 's for you! It is a small price to pay for forgiveness since I bought his wife (my best friend and fellow tribal belly dance student) zils (finger cymbals) for her birthday. But that's not what this blog is about so, please read on.

I recently learned through a social-media seminar that was given by Blog Guru, Geoff Livingston, that Fort Worth, Texas has " an immature blog community". What Livingston meant was that there aren't a plethora of people blogging about Fort Worth yet, which means that new bloggers (like myself) have many opportunities... of course naturally I took it to mean that Fort Worth needed some immature bloggers and I am always willing to fulfill a niche, so " hello!".

First I would like to say that Fort Worth is an amazing little-big city. In fact, the locals often refer to it as an " incestuous little city", which has less to do with "loving our brothers" and more to do with the fact that you can't pop by Fred's on a Saturday night without seeing five people you know and at least 10 people you "know of". Plus, you have to watch what you say in this town because everybody knows everybody else and that is a strange quality for a town that has a population of 500,000+. Of course everyone knows everyone else because this is the most "volunteer-oriented" city I have ever lived/worked in.

If you truly want to experience the greatness of Fort Worth, you have to get involved. Attend the Chamber of Commerce events. You will meet the most interesting people. A few weeks ago I attended a Women in Business event at Stonegate Mansion (the legendary former house of , Cullen Davis) and I met a girl named Tracy who has a incredible business concept. She was trying to plan a birthday party with her daughter one day and her daughter said to her, "Mom, why don't we just cook?" Which lead Tracy to create a business called " Kids Love to Cook". Tracy takes care of the invitations for your child's party, the party favors, the food, the kitchen cleanup and turns your child into the head chef of his or her own party for a song. She has a patent pending folks so don't even try to steal her idea. But Tracy is a genius and she is only one of the many remarkable people I have met since I matriculated from TCU after growing up near " that other big city to the east".

I also recently learned about a cool new restaurant in town, Ronin Sushi, where you can order cool fusion sushi and watch a rogue-ish samurai art film at the same time. In fact, it seemed like the perfect atmosphere to fuse the two special interest groups I manage at Fort Worth Sister Cities; Foodies and Filmies, and since it was Japanese culture and right around the time of Golden Week, we have a nice little pair up with the Nagaoka committee as well!

So, that is a little about me and little about the cool stuff I have uncovered recently in Cowtown. Look to this blog occasionally to discover what I think is cool and you just might find something you think is cool too.