It was a bright, clear Sunday morning on April 14, 1935. Farmers were working, and children were playing outside in the suitable spring weather. Since the Dust Bowl of the Great Plains had started, there hadn’t been a day this calm nor the skies this clear, nor the air this, well and breathable. To the Great Plains farmers in the 1930’s, nothing could have been better than walking out of the one room churches with their families taking in the fresh air that they had longed for.
But, as “Mother Nature” would have it, a black cloud hit the area around 5:15 pm. Everything went black. Nobody could see anything except for blackness. That’s how that Sunday got it’s name, Black Sunday.
“I can’t recall any dust storms because I was born in 1933. But I do remember mother and father talking about putting wet rags in the cracks of the windows and under the doors...” recalled Marion Renner, Black Sunday encounter.
Maybe if farmers would not have cut down all of the trees, Black Sunday would not have happened. Maybe it would have still happened as a result of the great plow up. America may never find out. But we can learn from our mistakes and try to prevent any environmental disaster like this from happening again to America.
Love this post. Can you imagine getting lost in your own yard? I'm glad we are learning from this. What things do farmers do differently now to prevent this?
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