Afterward I came out of the parking garage quite distracted, barely noticing that the weather had changed. Drove about a block and thought, huh, that's weird, why is everyone all pulling into the mall garage at the same time, like they're hiding from something? The street emptied around me. I drove a little farther, noticing trash blowing in the high wind.

Then a tornado crossed the street ahead of me. A block or two, but it seemed like it was right in front of me.

I remember two hugely contradictory feelings. One was a wry bitterness at the way the heavens and earth were perfectly acting out what I felt inside at that moment. The other was a dumb, awestruck joy. A recognition that the world was large, mighty, and wonderful, and that I and what I was experiencing was quite small. That I and the world would both continue, even so.