Tornadic weather threatens southeastern Colorado and life on the plains takes a turn again. Interestingly enough, books are written, movies are made, and life happens while the winds blow and the rains fall. Writers of every genre come from the lower Arkansas Valley here on the plains. While the rest of the world focuses on the problematic area of politically correctness, terror in the middle east, and life in the fast lane, those of us here in the dust bowl of the latest drought keep sane by writing about our lives and the lives of those around us. Either fiction, biography, history, or narrative documentary, books written here are read everywhere. Writers become famous not because of where they are, but more often because of how they write. As intensely boring as life on the plains may appear, those of us who write about life here have become accustomed to finding the best in life and keeping a good outlook on the way things happen. After the hail storm has beaten down the crops, a farmer thanks God for the moisture that came with the storm, because it gives him opportunity for crops next year. So often, it isn't what happens to you at the moment that changes your life, but the results of what happens to you in that moment. When you can look at life as an opportunity to make a difference, you have an attitude of willingness, and you can change the outcome of a disaster. The choice is really yours to make. Do you want to suffer through the moment of doom, or look beyond the doom and find the joy that is yours for the rest of time? Copyright 2001 Jan Verhoeff Printed in the USA |
