A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
We've had some tumultuous weather here in the Midwest lately, to say the least. Last weekend, my wife, daughter, and I traveled to Carlinville, Illinois to attend the annual Strawberry Festival. One of the reasons I love rural America is the rural festival that takes place across the country annually and reliably. A Strawberry fest in the spring, Maple fest in the fall, Harvest fest in the late fall - I even attended a woolly worm festival in Kentucky once. Delightful.
Anyway, the strawberry festival was very rudely interrupted by a horrible hail storm. As the dark clouds rolled in and golf ball sized hail began to fall, citizens scattered, some screamed, many panicked. Almost everyone was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Everyone except for a table of 5 farmers. These men were probably about 70-80 years old, flannel shirts, seed company hats, squinted eyes and lean with a belly. They were sipping coffee under an awning as their two inch tall corn plants two fields over were pelted and brutalized. Their response? A slight shake of the head.
"Life is nasty, brutish, and short," the historian Victor Davis Hanson tells us. True enough, but the responses to life's brutishness are mixed. The atheistic academic knows this fact, to some extent, and responds with despair and meaninglessness. The British and Jewish individuals among us often respond with humor. Only the history of the Jews, and many millenia on the "rainy, dingy, nothing island off of the coast of Europe" could have produced such glorious and shining senses of humor. These farmers responded by sipping some coffee and slightly shaking their heads.
We shouldn't forget the tragic view of life. I'm sure many have experienced it to some extent. But, our responses determine the meaning of the tragedy of life, not always the tragedies themselves.
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Mar '11
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
Once in a great while I read something I wish I had written. I wish I had written this.
Aug '10
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
I agree with Gus. It is beautiful writing, Samwise.
Still, I can't help wondering what is a "wooly worm festival". Because all that comes to mind right now when I hear that phrase is the Weinerfest we've been having of late.
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
Samwise Gamgee:
"Life is nasty, brutish, and short," the historian Victor Davis Hanson tells us.
Thomas Hobbes described life in the same way 360 years before when the standard of living was considerably worse, but yet this description continues to be an apt description today.
Great post, Samwise.
Aug '10
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
I was hoping somebody would vindicate our curmudgeonly ideology from Rob's slander that we conservatives are "are deep down pretty optimistic characters."
Nice work Samwise.
Mar '11
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
Insightful piece with more than a few gems. Like the description of the farmers. "These men were probably about 70-80 years old, flannel shirts, seed company hats, squinted eyes and lean with a belly."
Was in Kansas for a wedding this weekend and noticed more than a few farmers at the airport waiting for charges. Most looked strong as an ox but definitely in a "lean with a belly" type of way.
May '10
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
"The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel." -- Horace Walpole (probably)
May '10
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
I was speaking with my 92 year old grandmother last night. She lives by herself in Missouri Valley, Iowa, an area that's supposed to be hit with a 500-year flood of the Missouri River over the next few days and weeks.
In any case, we were talking about how everyone in the affected areas had calmly taken the last few days to evacuate their homes, haul away grain stored in bins, move their equipment to higher ground, etc. All of this without discernible complaint, and it was a great example of neighbor helping neighbor, church helping sister church, school district A helping school district B, etc. By yesterday, it sounds like the work in the area had been completed, and people were just settling in to see what the river had in store for them.
I asked my grandmother if she had noticed any government involvement in the evacuation. "Not a lick," she said. "They would have just messed it up."
Jun '10
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
Beautiful, Sam. I learned the tragic view of life working side by side with my Dad on our small family farm. We lived through early frosts, hail ruining the grain, drought, too much rain, and every other kind of bad weather you can imagine. (That's why farmers are always looking at the sky).
After each of these mini-tragedies, Dad would shrug his shoulders and go back to work, muttering under his breath: "Well, hell, I never wanted to be rich."
Edited on June 7, 2011 at 10:11pmJun '10
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
Midget Faded Rattlesnake: I agree with Gus. It is beautiful writing, Samwise.
Still, I can't help wondering what is a "wooly worm festival". Because all that comes to mind right now when I hear that phrase is the Weinerfest we've been having of late. · Jun 7 at 7:35am
Midge, a woolly worm is a catepillar that looks like a black or brown fuzzy... worm...
They can often be seen crossing rural roads in the summer. What makes one side of the road more interesting than the other is beyond me, but I suppose they have their reasons...
You haven't lived until you've seen two of them race!!!
Mar '11
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
Samwise! I was raised in Carlinville, and I am surprised to find out there is a Strawberry Festival- I was a sort of a 'city boy', if you can be one, in that town. I am glad that you went, though. It is a wonderful place, aside from a huge growth in local government, and local Democratic governance, since my parents moved in circa 1979 or so- nothing is left untouched.
Aug '10
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
Samwise Gamgee
Midge, a woolly worm is a catepillar that looks like a black or brown fuzzy... worm...
Oh, those black-and-brown fuzzy caterpillars. I know them!
I didn't know they were called woolly worms, though.
Thanks, Samwise.
Jun '10
Re: A Hail Storm, Victor Davis Hanson, and the Tragic View
It is indeed a nice little town. Their town square is one of the few that is truly thriving... although with the new IL taxes and the era of Quinn-onomics... I hope the trend continues.