I went for a midday bike ride a while ago, and my ride went through a park near where I lived and worked at the time. I was riding with two other friends and as we rode through one area of the park, one of my friends suddenly sat up – riding with no hands – and clapped his hands over his ears! Why?

Cicadas.

You know…those creatures many people call locusts? The large greenish colored beautiful bugs with wings of silk. They were SO LOUD! We literally couldn’t have added to the noise if we wanted.

A few months ago, a tornado came through our area and destroyed many homes, took several lives. I went out with a clean-up crew a few times after that and was overwhelmed each time by all of the destruction and debris. But there was a moment when I found myself spellbound. I was standing in front of a home that had been utterly destroyed, surveying the incredible destruction when I noticed something peculiar; a little pinwheel in what was once the front flower bed. I thought of the powerful winds that must’ve blown through that pinwheel as that tornado ripped through the area, destroying almost everything in its path! I visualized the speed at which that little pinwheel must have been spinning! Can you imagine?? And yet, there it sat. Totally intact. Firmly holding its stance. Amazing. Ridiculous.

(This part has been updated) When I started this blog in 2014 there were an estimated 152 million blogs on the internet. The latest figures I can find now estimate that number to be over 600 million! That’s a whole lotta words!

The writer of Ecclesiastes may have said it best:

There is nothing new under the sun.

Everything that has been said or done will be said or done again.

When I started writing, I first asked myself why would I join this fray? What difference is one more blog among so many?

This blog is named Pinwheel in a Hurricane because it’s possible that my “voice” just adds to the noise. Like trying to add to the sound of deafening cicadas, or trying to “add” anything to a hurricane by blowing on a pinwheel.

There will be times when I actually say something on this blog – when I write something that originates from my own mind. Other times, I’ll likely point to others and what they have to say. I mean, why just add to the noise?

And now I reach the end of this first blog. Kinda pointless? Maybe, maybe not.