The Dust Bowl

I stumbled upon a documentary on one of the PBS affiliate channels. I found this particular documentary to be all consuming, moving, frustrating, epiphany generating and just so - there. After much thought as to why this documentary struck a special chord in me, I have determined it is because it touches on everything in life. Every emotion. Life, people, death, nature, disaster, catastrophe, environmental awareness. Food scarcity. Endurance. Pain. Survival. Politics. History. If you're thinking of something and I didn't mention it, that too - most probably.

This documentary is long. It comes in two chapters; each one about a couple of hours long. In very brief summary, it covers the south, the drought in the 1930s. So dual depressions. Both financial crisis as America was experiencing it then. And the drought. Prolonged drought. And then there were dust storms. oh my goodness! Those images of those storms!!! That drop - 3 feet of dust, 3 feet - by the time they pass by. First and foremost - what??? I did not know that this happens outside of the Sahara desert. Typically, it was headed in that direction , I guess. And FDR triumphed over his opponents. And America, the government overcame that. And when it ends, created a new potential - future- disaster. And a situation where, the dust bowl could happen again. That is