"Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit" ~ Bernard Williams

Vermont Strong. This was Vermont's motto in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.  Our state was devastated and, for a short time, we were brought to our knees.  Very quickly, we rolled up our sleeves, got to work rebuilding our roads and bridges and helped those whose homes and businesses were hit hard.  Some are still dealing with the FEMA bureaucracy but for most, life got back on track fairly quickly.  We thought this was a pretty big deal and so patted ourselves on the back and talked about being - "Vermont Strong".   

Two days ago it merely rained through the night and you'll see below the results.  From a regular rainfall.  This isn't even the rainy season.  And everyone just goes along barely giving these conditions a thought.  The video below is just a few seconds of the drive.  It was so much worse.  I also added a clip from one of my classes that day just to show you the spirit in these beautiful kids.  (We were playing vocabulary charades and the phrase was small boy.  You'll now be able to understand the clues!)

After seeing the results here from a little rain I am even more saddened following the news in the Philippines.   I read a pre-storm interview with an ex-pat there doing mission work.  He said they don't even have nails securing the metal roofs on their homes.  They are held in place by tires.  I have no doubt that these resilient souls will pick themselves up and carry on, but I struggle at the unfairness of their misery.  I'm hopeful that we would do the same, but we have never had to.  We can't know what the resilience of spirit is because we haven't been tested.   We really haven't yet been called upon to be Vermont Strong…and for that, we should be truly grateful.

Mr. Thun driving me to work and trying to keep dry.  All manner of
creative rain blocks were being used.  But mostly people were just hunched
over their motos getting absolutely drenched.  

This was in the pouring rain.  I also saw two people on a moto and between
them was a tall bamboo pole with an IV bag and tube hanging from it.  Can
you imagine being sick enough to need an IV and then getting on a motor-
scooter in the pouring rain?  Beyond our comprehension.