Orville took a break from working to write his sister Katharine and describe the state of their camp when he and Wilbur arrived the day before.

"The building, however, is several feet nearer the ocean than when we left last year, and about a foot lower, in places. We had supposed two years ago, when the wind at a speed of 107 miles per hour took the anemometer cups away with it (beating anything within the memory of the oldest inhabitant), . . . and last year when lightning turned night into day, and burned down every telegraph pole between here and Kitty Hawk, we had supposed that nature had reached her limit, but far from it! Dan says this year has been one continuous succession of storms of unprecedented severity . . . Really it nearly paralyzes the mind to try to think of all these things at once."

Despite difficulties, Orville obviously kept his sense of humor.

In their four seasons in North Carolina, the brothers weathered several hurricanes and serious storms.

When the winds slowed after one storm, they ventured outside to practice gliding. After only a few rides down the hill the wind quickly picked up again and they had to scamper back inside. The two Midwesterners had no idea they were gliding in the eye of a hurricane.

As todayís North Carolinians and Virginians recover from a hurricane we, too, should maintain our sense of humor. Like every difficulty, cleaning up after a hurricane is simply a temporary problem that soon will be overcome. It may not always be easy, but it will always be worth the effort, and we're better for having weathered it.

When the storms in your life pass, keep your sense of humor, get back out there and keep going.
 

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Soar to Success the Wright Way © 2003-2004 by Jim Meisner, Jr.