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In the Eye of the Storm, Literally
Photos by Jim Clash Intermittent lightning flashes near our U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft. The odd smell of ozone from the outside electric interaction with air in the atmosphere is noticeable in the plane. But the wind is eerily calm now, here in the Eye, a far cry from just minutes ago when we passed through the final part of the menacing Eye-wall of Hurricane Dorian. Stars are visible overhead out of the cockpit window. When we entered the storm earlier, it was classified

Jim Clash


The Unsettling Loss of Friendships as We Age
(Photo: Hansjörg Rath/Unsplash ) I recently posted something on Facebook to the effect that, as we age, the number of friends we have...

Jim Clash


Twisted Texas Weather Intrigues Writer
(Photos by Jim Clash) It’s one thing to see a photo of a tornado, yet another to see the real thing. I grew up in Laurel, the...

Jim Clash


Breaking Barriers, in Particular the Sound Barrier
Jim Clash and pilot “Bulldog,” canopy down, ready to taxi for their supersonic F-16 flight. (Photos by Art Harmon) At Eglin AFB near...

Jim Clash


My U-2 Flight to the Heavens
(Photos courtesy of Jim Clash) It’s extremely rare for a civilian to score an edge-of-space ride in the backseat of a U-2 spy plane....

Jim Clash


The Surreality of a Solar Eclipse Viewed from 30,000 Ft. Above Earth
All my life, I had wanted to witness a total solar eclipse. But it was always too cloudy, or I was someplace where the thing wasn’t...

Jim Clash


The Adventures of Multi-Decade High School Class Reunions
My late father once told me something about class reunions: For the 5-, 10- and even 20-year get-togethers, everyone will be bragging...

Jim Clash


Riding On 60-Ft Waves, Flipping a Jet Ski... All in a Day’s Work
About an hour and a half north of Lisbon, Portugal, by bus, lies the small coastal town of Nazare. Most people have never heard of the...

Jim Clash


New Book by Laurel’s Jim Clash
A new book by frequent Voices of Laurel contributor, Forbes magazine writer, and Laurel High School graduate (Class of 1973) Jim Clash...

Kevin Leonard
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