A Frayed Knot
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The Austin American-Statesman photo of Susie Sanders in Burnet the day after the tornado March 10, 1973. Contributed/AA-S/Tom Lankes -
Raymond V. Whelan, A Frayed Knot
Gentle readers, as the Bulletin
begins to begin its resolute journey through 2024, the refined prose below begins with an intriguing disclosure.
During the New Year’s Eve recent revelry, after hearing Pete Fountain play Tiger Rag, Jimmy Rogers sing My Rough and Rowdy Ways and the Amsterdam Concert Orchestra perform the Joseph Haydn London Symphony 104 on my old-fashioned phonograph – for the sheer fun of it - I watched the Barbie movie, released in standard DVD format, borrowed from the Herman Brown Free Library.
The film concerns the fictitious adventures of beautiful Barbie, modeled after the winsome doll manufactured by the Mattel toy company, mainly to inspire the imagination of countless, positively precocious pre-teenage girls.
The movie presents the adventures of Barbie as she travels pretty much on a whim through the ersatz real world, more specifically, the by-andlarge prosperous and often ultracompetitive confines of southern California.
Essentially, the film is one energetic, harmless, hilarious spoof about contemporary consumer culture. Presumably, sophisticated adults could enjoy it, especially because it is ignited by a witty script and talented cast, including Will Ferrell, Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon and Margot Robbie in the title role.
Ironically, the Barbie flick reminded me of what the Bulletin published March 8, 2023; amongst several inches printed to recall memories of what happened 50 years before, when one unforeseen tornado tore through Burnet.
As the unwelcome storm swept through the city, it pounded people with rounds of fear and property damage, some physical injuries, too, but fortunately, no fatalities.
One of those Bulletin looking-back-at-the-tornado stories printed last March was entitled “Burnet tornado evokes mysterious, sad photo.”
The story ran near one reprinted black-and-white photograph snapped originally by photographer Tom Lankes, who made the shot as he detailed the wind catastrophe for the Austin American-Statesman.
In the background of the image, one sees piles of brush, tree branches and several adults gathered around the forlorn door of a home blown apart by wild wind. Too, one can see a stepladder standing resolutely against the frame of the battered home.
Doubtless, the most eyecatching part of the photo appears in its foreground, where one lonely young girl, surely elementary-school age, wears a checkered coat while she is seated in a chair.
According to the photograph caption, the girl is Burnet resident Susie Sanders.
Her hair is a little windswept as her fingers wipe her eyes, as she tries to stop tears from wetting the large teddy bear she clutches above her knees.
It is her favorite teddy bear, according to the Lankes photo caption.
Clearly, for Susie, it is no Barbie sublime moment. And, it is fiercely difficult to contemplate the depth of misfortune she is forced to bear at such a tender age.
As 2023 continued, the Bulletin tried mighty to know what happened to Susie Sanders after the tornado. It contacted local historians, librarians and residents for clues or facts as to how she fared after the storm and her current welfare.
No luck ensued. Alas, maybe during 2024, there will be one happy discovery related to the mysterious, sad photo.
