I know, the news doesn't seem to be getting "better", as we hear "FEMA failed", "ICE (In-Caseof-Emergency) food and water not in evidence"; "Third World County images", but during a discussion with my sister, Dona, she posed this question: "How do we, or can we, respond to mother nature being menopausal?" Good question, but I thought I'd share it MORE as a "mood lightener" than as anything of profound proportions. I'll consider FEMA under the umbrella of "Homeland Security" and what, exactly, THAT MEANS, somewhere else. For now, is it conceivable that we've actually done something to tick old ma nature off---is she just being "hormonal"? :-) Of course, my heart goes out to EVERYONE being impacted by this tragedy and as it continues to unfold. I'm sure all eyes and ears are on the gulf coast. Sherry Sherry Balow balowmsg@earthlink.net NOW BLOGGING http://settlethedust.blogspot.com/ "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James A. Baldwin

Hopefully, no one will ever have to rely on FEMA for anything. When Isabel hit just South of us 2 years ago as a category 1, the only FEMA people that showed up were carrying brief cases with forms to fill out and a fist full of ball points. There are still many people in this area awaiting FEMA action. It is felt here, by many, that FEMA is just another top-heavy government organization that knows nothing about taking care of emergencies. I am surprised that they do not have a form to complete when one receives a bottle of water or a bag of ice. Carroll, Virginia. ----- Original Message ----- From: Sherry Balow<mailto:balowmsg@earthlink.net> To: IADECATU-L@rootsweb.com<mailto:IADECATU-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 3:45 PM Subject: [IADECATU] Mother Nature -- off topic but not far off I know, the news doesn't seem to be getting "better", as we hear "FEMA failed", "ICE (In-Caseof-Emergency) food and water not in evidence"; "Third World County images", but during a discussion with my sister, Dona, she posed this question: "How do we, or can we, respond to mother nature being menopausal?" Good question, but I thought I'd share it MORE as a "mood lightener" than as anything of profound proportions. I'll consider FEMA under the umbrella of "Homeland Security" and what, exactly, THAT MEANS, somewhere else. For now, is it conceivable that we've actually done something to tick old ma nature off---is she just being "hormonal"? :-) Of course, my heart goes out to EVERYONE being impacted by this tragedy and as it continues to unfold. I'm sure all eyes and ears are on the gulf coast. Sherry Sherry Balow balowmsg@earthlink.net<mailto:balowmsg@earthlink.net> NOW BLOGGING http://settlethedust.blogspot.com/<http://settlethedust.blogspot.com/> "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James A. Baldwin ==== IADECATU Mailing List ==== Stacey Dietiker, Momdit@aol.com<mailto:Momdit@aol.com>: Decatur County List Administrator, Website Coordinator, Decatur County IA Genweb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~iadecatu<http://www.rootsweb.com/~iadecatu> ============================== Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx<http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx>