Spring is my favorite time of year and is just about here. Traditionally, the weather teases with freezing temperatures one day and 80ยบ the day after. The transition when winter winds down is a real mixed bag.
Officially just a week away, signs of spring are everywhere. Magnolia and fruit trees, pictured at right are looking their best. Daffodils and other spring bulbs show off their best colors.
But all isn't rosy with the coming of spring. In addition to the emergence of spring flowers and beautiful trees, the weather can turn on a dime. When it does, it can wreak havoc on everything around.
That was the case earlier this week when a cold front from the north met with warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. The result was a series of severe storms. Among them, the worst occurred east of Kankakee, Illinois to northwest Indiana. An EF-3 tornado devastated parts of Aroma Park and Lake Village, Indiana as well as parts in between and well beyond.
For me, this was personal. I watched the progression of the storm on TV from my Ozarks home. Storm chasers offered riveting video coverage from the formation of massive and multiple twisters to the swirling debris that was once somebody's home. As I watched, I was concerned about the severe storm forecast for my own locale. Thankfully that did not happen.
But I used to live and work in the Kankakee area. I was intimately familiar with the region. Family and friends were in the path of the storm. I am thankful that everyone I know weathered the storm untouched, but for so many, that was not the case.
It is heartbreaking to see the devastation left behind. It is almost unthinkable to imagine how anyone deals with this type of loss. Property was the main casualty, but lives were lost as well.
We have to do better.
We must take more responsibility as we plan for our future. Arguably, a warming climate has contributed to the severity of storms, as predicted many years ago. And yet, we have done little to thwart the worst effects of climate change. Whatever we have done has largely been undone since Donald Trump assumed the role of President. His wrong-headed policies have gutted environmental protections, cut necessary regulations, and have threatened to destroy public lands long ago set aside. The Trump administration doesn't care about people or the environment. Trump only cares about himself and making more money, evidenced in his mantra, "Drill Baby Drill." That term makes me cringe.
Isn't it time we all wake up and do a better job at managing that little blue dot in the vast blackness of the universe we call home. Our Earth with all her living plants and animals are all we have. And we have already destroyed so much.
Earth Day is a little more than a week away, just two days after the Vernal Equinox or first day of spring. Our lives largely revolve around the seasons. Perhaps we need to try to make them a little more friendly by regulating the pollutants we disperse into the air without a thought and using renewable energy. Perhaps we should make Earth Day 2026 a time of personal and collective responsibility. The consequences are as dire as what we saw Tuesday night in Illinois and Indiana and all the other places that have and will continue to be ravaged by storms.
