After a long week of finishing exams and finishing a magazine, it was a relief to be able to turn to the idyllic retreat of western Illinois. We set aside three days in Galena to recharge, plan for the next year and sleep until 10:30.

All went as planned – and I even found a restaurant that served caipirinhas in small-town Illinois, so that was gravy – until we left. The roads out of town were all under construction, so as we sat in traffic we watched the skies on the horizon darken and become more and more ominous.

Not two hours after we left, a supercell tornado touched down. Normally this would be a bad thing, but I’ve never witnessed one in person – so I chalked it up as a loss. In the meantime, I was kicking it in Dubuque, Iowa, preparing for a wedding.

The world just isn’t fair sometimes. At least there are, y’kno, strip malls here.