Hail, No!

It hailed here today.  It's hailed about five significant times since we've lived here.  I think everyone in the neighborhood has a new roof now.

What made today's storm different was that our neighbor's palm tree was struck by lightning.  We saw a bright flash in our house, then before we could brace ourselves for the Crack! of thunder, we heard what sounded like a cannon go off.

Palm tree pieces were all over our backyard and all the hairy parts underneath the tree bark were exposed the full length of the tree.

Good thing we had just turned all the computers off or I wouldn't be typing this right now.

Reassurance

Reassurance.

I've heard that word twice today regarding the design of Walt Disney World.  Listening to the most recent Unofficial Guide's Disney Dish with Jim Hill where Len Testa and Sam Gennawey are discussing the design of the Magic Kingdom, Sam mentions the "architecture of reassurance" when describing why people come back again and again.

Later on I was reading Since the World Began by Jeff Kurtti and he also mentioned this word 'reassurance' when explaining why the castle needs to be seen from outside the park.  He said that after folks leave the interstate and drive six additional miles onto Disney property, they need some reassurance that the park is actually there.

And I can think of a third mention of reassurance.  The mere title of Karal Ann Marling's book, Designing Disney's Theme Parks:  The Architecture of Reassurance, teases us that there is more to the buildings and their surroundings than we might assume.