The Hurricane Party

Sunday we celebrated Bill's 91st birthday. Yes, there was cake. Then the tornado came:

In Wichita, Kan., a tornado touched down near Mid-Content Airport on the city's southwest side shortly before 4 p.m., knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses but bypassing the most populated areas of Kansas' biggest city. The Wichita tornado was an EF1 on the enhanced Fujita scale, with winds of 110 mph, according to the weather service.

Sedgwick County Emergency Management Director Randy Duncan said there were no reports of fatalities or injuries in Kansas.

We were luckier than those in OKC.

I was TDY to USCENTCOM at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida when [I think it was Emily] was heading toward the East Coast. I called my longtime friend photogoot on the phone and he explained they were having a Hurricane Party...in my room.

"Why my room?" I asked, appalled.

"We can't have it in my room because I'm on the first floor and it might flood. We can't have it in Leslie's room because its on the third floor - what if the roof blows away? Your room is on the second floor - perfect!"

Sometimes that's all you can do.

And at 91, Bill is living proof.