Foolish Cat February 8th, 2008

This week, tornadoes tore through the southern states of Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama, killing 57 people to date. Schools and churches were obliterated, dormitories were destroyed, and countless homes, cars and personal possessions were lost forever. It really was a horrible tragedy and another example (as if we needed more) of Nature’s ruthlessness.

And in the middle of it all - literally - an eleven month old baby boy was found alive in a field of debris; physically, at least, he was relatively unscathed . He was 100 yards from where his home used to be, presumably carried there by the winds of the tornado. How he survived is beyond most; his mother was found dead in the same field.

Our BFOTW award goes to David Harmon, the rescuer who found little Kyson Stowell.

Whether it was the Hand of God or just luck that saved the baby is a debate that clearly has no provable conclusion, so to engage in it is pointless; sometimes people survive catastrophes - even children and babies. But what definitely was not luck was the work of rescue workers who did not assume anything, even the sight of what appeared to be a doll lying motionless in the middle of Hell.

Harmon felt the boy’s neck for a pulse and Kyson started crying; he was surrounded on all sides by bricks and trees - a post office nearby was completely flattened. If this wasn’t a literal miracle, it was certainly the kind we casually attribute to amazing things every day. And though we may say that any rescuer would have found the boy - that’s the point: they go in and look for survivors in disaster areas - David Harmon actually did. We don’t dismiss Columbus because somebody would have discovered America eventually. But perhaps anybody with the focus and wherewithal to become a rescue worker does deserve Blundering Fool status - the ability to put self aside for the sake of others in seemingly hopeless situations certainly fits the mold. Cheers to you all.

And is this event not analogous to life? And I am not one to throw that out there lightly - the microcosm of life thing gets overplayed, for sure. Baseball is life. Chess is life. Waiting to check out at the register is life. It’s easy to shape anything to fit into the mold of Life.

But not this. I think this fits. At least it fits how we should see life once in a while. Looking for hope in a landscape of despair. Persevering when all seems lost. Acknowledging life as both fragile and enduring. Sacrificing for others.

And even if it was all just luck and David Harmon happened to look in the right place at the right time, he saved a life. Mr. Harmon did his part this week.

Blunder on.

• The Daily Blunder , Blundering Fool of the Week
• Comments(2)