Yes, it is getting very warm here and with no signs of rain anytime soon, it is starting to suck. But hey, I'd rather have the heat than the cold any day. At least I can wear shorts in the heat.. unlike the blasted cold.

So what is a person to do? Guess one could spend most of their time at the pool. Now, I just wished I owned a pool so I wouldn't have to spend all my time with all those little kiddies that like to urinate in the public pool. Nothing like swimming in a large pool of urine. So a private pool would be nice.

I suppose you could also spend time indoors with the air conditioner running full blast. However, I choose most times to spend time outdoors even in the heat taking photographs. The latest one is posted here on DA. Too hot? Yes, still too hot, but at least its not Iraq.

Kudos and prayers to our brothers and sisters stuck in that crap hole called the Middle East.

Don't know why, but I'm just tired. Sometimes I get up and wonder why I'm here. What is my purpose? Why do I even bother? I go to work, come home, eat, and then sleep. Get up and do that again 6 days a week. The 7th, I don't really get to rest. Have Church in the mornings, and family stuff to do all day. Sometimes I just wished we never had to work, but, we all know that without work (unless you're the stuck up snob rich person who never had to work in their life), money is required in order to survive. I really wish I were a pro photographer. I mean, I enjoy it so much, but in all honesty, I'm not good enough to make a living at it. So what else is there. All work and what little play time anyone has isn't worth it. Shoot, with fuel costs continually on the rise, I'll be seeing a lot of my house more than I want.

Saturday May 10 started out as a normal day for me. Get up late, go to work, the typical stuff one does. However, this day would turn out to be a tragic event. Early in the afternoon while working security at the local University, we noticed a massive storm coming into the area. At first we thought it was just a normal storm. By the mid afternoon, tornado sirens could be heard all across town. We were under a tornado warning. The rain came in torrents, then the hail. The wind picked up to the point debris was blowing across the road. While taking care of the students on campus to get them to shelter, a large tornado passed from the KS border to MO and moved south of town. In all, there were actually three on the ground. One of which was classified as an EF3 or EF4. That one was on the ground for more than 2 hours and traveled 90 miles leaving a 1/2 mile wide path of destruction. When the storm passed, all calmed down. What I didn't realize is that there were some fatalities involved. On May 11, the death toll rose to 14 in MO, 11 in OK, and 2 in KS. 4 of those fatalities were a man, his wife, his son, and his mother-in-law. The man identified was that of Richard Rountree our music minister at church. They were traveling on a road when the wind from the tornado blew their vehicle and two other vehicles off the roadway killing everyone.

Oh little one, why do you cry?
Do you not know that sleep will come and all will be peaceful?
Why then do you forsake the dreams?
Sleep now for when you wake, a new day will dawn.
Sleep now for the Angels will keep their watch.
Hush now and close your eyes. Do not cry.
I will sing a soft melody.
Sleep.

Man, which program to use. Been playing around with Terragen lately and Vue 6. Which program to use I don't know. Both are very impressive and I love the animation feature in Vue 6. Both are not too easy to learn.. especially when trying to just jump right in. Decisions decisions.