Grandma's Towels

After my grandma died last year, we began the task of dividing up her possessions. Truth be told, there wasn't that much work to be done - she had been quietly giving things away for years. I got a lot of the practical things she had: some of her kitchen supplies, some of her dishes, her microwave, and some of her towels. I put these things away and almost forgot I had them.

Last week, while doing laundry, I put out a set of light, fluffy cream-colored towels to replace the towels I was washing. When I went back into the bathroom that evening, I smelled something ... vaguely familiar. I didn't recognize the smell, but thought it might be water smell from the wet shirts I had hanging in there. I turned on the fan, thinking it was just the smell of humidity and working to clear it out.

The next morning, I stepped back into the bathroom and smelled it again. It got stronger when I dried my hands on a towel. On a hunch, I held the bath towel to my face and inhaled deeply, closing my eyes.

Instantly I was taken back to a house I had spent much time in when I was young ... and a woman I hugged often, but didn't hug often enough to satisfy a lifetime.

The towels were my grandma's, and a year later, they still smelled like her.

They stopped smelling like her a day or two later, when they aired out. But for that little time, I almost had her back again, and that was wonderful. I was able to remember her with a lot of happiness.

Tornado Outbreak

Salvete, omnes!

There was a massive tornado outbreak in my neck of the woods yesterday. Put it this way: we typically see 21 tornadoes a summer. Yesterday, 20 (preliminary) tornadoes touched down. First of all, I am fine and my family is fine. None of us experienced any storm damage. My mom saw a 70 mph wind gust in the morning and some street flash flooding, but that went down as the storm drains caught up.

I didn't personally witness much of the storm activity as I was at work. However, I have found some footage of the tornado that went just west of the Grand Forks airport. I believe this was actually taken by a friend of mine who went storm chasing yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOBugJgPXxc. It was pretty exciting up here for a couple of hours; at one point (between 4:00 and 4:45 p.m.), Grand Forks County was under three separate tornado warnings for three separate storms, all of which had spotter-reported tornadoes on the ground. Round 2 hit about an hour later. I don't have any photos or video that I can guarantee are from Round 2 (between 5:20 and 6:00 p.m.) in the Grand Forks area at this time, but I'll do some looking later today and post anything I find. Once again, I got lucky. There was some flash flooding in the area, but my storm drains handled the rain well. I also didn't get any hail, which is more good news, nor did any tornadoes come directly through town (that I'm aware of).

We were all pretty shook up last night: this kind of weather really doesn't happen up here at all. Sure, the occasional summer tornado is not uncommon, but an outbreak of this magnitude is absolutely insane. NWS is sending out storm damage assessment teams today: one to the Wadena area, one to the Mentor-Fisher-Crookston area, and one in Grand Forks and Traill counties to track those storms that prompted all the warnings. The damage in Wadena is ... the word that comes to mind is catastrophic. One person was killed in that storm for sure in Almora, MN, possibly two (the rumor mill has been running wild up here, and I'm trying to get as much of the truth as I can). Here's the most up-to-date local newspaper report on that storm: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/165698/. You might have to register to read it, as well as any subsequent articles I'm linking to. (Sorry.)

The tornado that went through the Mentor area killed one person and just tore a convenience store/gas station apart. It didn't touch the pumps, but the building itself had about 1.5 walls left standing. Here's the most up-to-date local newspaper report on that tornado: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/165659/

Meanwhile, of course, we had the tornado warnings in Grand Forks County, Traill County, and many counties in Minnesota. Here's a timeline to help organize all this: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/165640/. This mainly covers the northern Red River Valley and only covers the tornadic storms. There were non-tornadic storms that also wreaked havoc.

As I've been writing this entry, a new article has come out stating that the NWS is calling this "one of the most significant tornado outbreaks in memory": http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/165709/.

And for your viewing pleasure, picture galleries: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/photogallery/id/715/ and http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/photogallery/id/714/.

As more information comes out throughout the day, I'll timestamp this post if necessary to keep everyone up to date. To take away: I am fine, my family is fine, and we are very lucky people. My prayers are with those who are less fortunate.

Valete et vos curate! Stay safe!

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/user/bennyc50 - He was out storm chasing yesterday in the Grand Forks county area. I think most of these are with the first round of storms at about 4:30 p.m.

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=FGF&issuedby=FGF&product=LSR&format=CI&version=1&glossary=0 - Local storm reports for the Red River Valley, verified and compiled by the NWS.

http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/displayRad.php?icao=KMVX&prod=bref1&bkgr=black&endDate=20100618&endTime=2&duration=12 - Archived Doppler radar for 12 hours over the Red River Valley. The storms from 1700-1900 were tornado warned, but the rest were very strong as well.

Graduation and a New Leaf

Salvete, omnes!

I should offer an explanation for not writing for such a long time, but I have no intention of doing so. Cold, yes, but I'm too tired to deal with it.

There was no failure - A's on both tests, A's since then. I graduated a few weeks ago with an engineering degree, summa cum laude, with a 4.0. I wish it meant more to me than it does - I just feel like it's almost fully devoid of meaning. I recognize the hard work that went into getting this degree, and I don't regret doing it - but at the same time, all I wanted my graduation day was my grandma. And she's the only thing I can't have. I spent the last semester trying to figure out if I could have gotten done with college any faster, and the answer is, unfortunately, no. I would have had to give up important life lessons in order to finish college sooner.

On a happier note, I have now joined the Order of the Engineer. One stainless steel ring on the pinkie finger of my right hand, one oath to act ethically, which I have reproduced below:

"I am an Engineer. In my profession I take deep pride. To it, I owe solemn obligations.

"Since the Stone Age, human progress has been spurred by the engineering genius. Engineers have made usable nature’s vast resources of material and energy for Mankind’s benefit. Engineers have vitalized and turned to practical use the principles of science and the means of technology. Were it not for this heritage of accumulated experience, my efforts would be feeble.

"As an Engineer, I pledge to practice integrity and fair dealing, tolerance and respect, and to uphold devotion to the standards and the dignity of my profession, conscious always that my skill carries with it the obligation to serve humanity by making the best use of Earth’s precious wealth.

"As an Engineer, in humility and with the need for Divine guidance, I shall participate in none but honest enterprises. When needed, my skill and knowledge shall be given without reservation for the public good. In the performance of duty and in fidelity to my profession, I shall give the utmost."

The first year without a loved one is supposed to be the hardest. I've gotten through the first year. Let's see where life takes me.

Two years from now, I will cross the stage again as a master's candidate and leave the stage as a master's graduate.

I don't want you to read this entry and think I'm sad. I'm not sad. I'm more - transitioning. I don't have a good word for it. I'm finishing one era of my life and starting a new one. And, truth be told, I'm excited. Graduate school is going to be so much more research-focused than my undergrad days, and I'm looking forward to living in the labs. (Moreover, I'm pretty tired today. Hey, might as well be really honest.)

I thought about shutting down Guru_on_the_Hilldotcom and just leaving it as a memorial to my college days, but I realized that isn't right. The lessons here are important, but they're not the only lessons I will learn. I'll still be blogging; to be honest, I've missed this. We'll see how often I write, and that depends on whether anything worth writing about happens.

Hugs to all and apologies for disappearing for so long. I'll be around more often.