Day 14 - On The Road Again

Sunday morning and I was off to the Church of the Nazarene in Walters Oklahoma with Jimmy and his family.  The service was great and I even had a song sung in Commanche for me.  It was very special.  I met up with Edward Eschiti after the service who is a Native American Indian.  Edward was telling me stories about his culture, events of the past and about his grandfather White Eagle.  It was a real pleasure and an honour to meet him.

I wanted to take a photo of the soil to show the light nature of it and to try and remind me of how easily it blows when cultivated.  I couldn't take any of Jimmy's soils as they are all under zero tillage and therefore safely locked to his farm!  I set off on my travels after church and along Interstate 44 I called in to visit Moore where the huge tornado touched down in May this year.  The sight I found was heart breaking and very humbling.  Houses just removed from sight leaving only the concrete bases where peoples homes once stood and children played.  What struck me was the silence.  Even though the highway was fairly close to where I parked the erie silence was haunting.

In places there was nothing left.  One side of a road almost untouched and opposite, just 50 yards away, the houses had gone.  It was like a huge bomb had gone off removing everything in its way, cars lifted up and laid against homes, others bent in half smashed with debris, I can't even imagine what it must have been like during the horrific event and in its aftermath.

Even among the destruction and devastation there were signs of rebuilding, people starting to rebuild their homes and their lives, where they can and where it is safe to do so.  The sign above stood out like a beacon to me showing me that even in this desperate situation there really is hope and support from the community.  Many of the homes were under insured and fund raising events for the residents have been advertised on the radio.  I headed North on Interstate 35 to Stillwater where I have meetings on Monday morning at Oklahoma State University.