Monday, June 20, 2011

Joplin, Missouri

Click on these photos of Joplin, Missouri, to see the full-size version.

Last week, I was in the middle of a long drive for family reasons, and I stopped in Joplin, Missouri, because I wanted to see (and show my daughter) how things were there. A couple of weeks before the tornado hit, I'd stayed overnight in Joplin only a short distance from where the city was ravaged.

We ended up staying in Joplin for several days because our car blew a major belt and had more damage, and the parts had to be ordered. We were blessed to even get a hotel room, and one that takes dogs, too; because every room was booked for weeks. We only got the room because of the kindness of one desk clerk who called another hotel where she knew there had been an unexpected late evening check-out.

In spite of the situation in Joplin, people went out of their way to help us out. People are incredibly nice there. At the hotel's business center, I met a woman who was using the hotel computer because she'd lost her home and needed to enter her customers' Avon orders online, and the hotel was a place she could use a computer and get internet access.

As soon as we arrived, even before the car broke down, it was obvious that Joplin was in a state of transition. There was a lot of coming and going; people were carrying luggage and pets; they were getting supplies and making calls, and there was lots of traffic both in Joplin and entering Joplin from out of the city. Even in Springfield, which is about 50 miles away, the hotels were full of people who were staying there and traveling daily to help out in Joplin, and no doubt with Joplin residents who have been displaced from their homes.

This photo below is a side view of part of the huge campus of Hope High School, which was completely demolished. There was a lot going on there, with food being given away, not far from where there was a mobile health clinic.



Down the street from our motel, in a vacant lot on a busy street (S. Range Line Road), there was this child's bike, far from any residential area.




This song speaks for itself. Our drive was a major transition for us due to the closing of a cherished place and major changes in the lives of many people. The music here touched me greatly.

Send Me a Song - Celtic Woman

Friday, May 27, 2011

"Emma" - Great Moments

This is one of the best scenes in the 1996 film "Emma" with Gwyneth Paltrow. It's so much fun to read the expressions of the polite listeners in the room, isn't it? What a wonderful film. And I love this song, which is by Handel, titled "Silent Worship."



Two other favorite scenes from "Emma" (1996):



Hilarious:



Here is a wonderful video from 2009's "Emma" on BBC: