I am a competitive, goal-driven person. I love extreme sports, and when I’m not working, I like to be with my wife and two children. I’m a business consultant, and there’s a lot going on, so if I don’t schedule my time things don’t get done.
This photo was taken early one Friday evening at our home in Alberta, Canada. Because we spend Saturdays at things such as swimming events or on hikes, and Sundays relaxing, I like to get chores done on a Friday.
That evening was beautiful: a clear blue sky, no wind, about 26C. People were out and about, getting ready for the weekend. I’m in my workout clothes because I was training for a triathlon and had just been for a run. I’d finished about 4.45pm and then started to mow the lawn.
About two-thirds of the way through, I looked over the corn fields behind our house and saw this whirlwind coming up. It was like a funnel, with one spiral on the top and one on the bottom. You sometimes see them in South Africa, where we’re from, and I thought, “I’ll just keep an eye on it.” Having lived in Alberta for several years, I’ve learned that the weather changes quickly here.
But the wind picked up. I decided to put the garden furniture away and then went back to mowing. Within 15 minutes a full-blown tornado had formed. What you can’t see from this picture is that our neighbours to the left and right were outside barbecuing. I thought, “Well, they’re true blue Canadians and if they’re not worried, I shouldn’t be.” But I watched the tornado closely; I placed some visual landmarks to take note of its movement. I’m used to closely monitoring weather from mountaineering. The tornado was unusually big, and unexpected because it happened quite early in the season.
My children were playing in and out of the house and I told them to keep an eye on it, too. My daughter woke my wife, Cecilia, who was having a nap. When she came to see what was going on, I told her that if it came closer they should all go to the basement and keep the door unlocked so I could slip in if it came really near.
It was phenomenal to look at. I’d never seen a tornado before. Cecilia took some photos to send to our family in South Africa. At first she was taking them of just the tornado, then she took one with me in it for perspective. She posted it on Facebook and as a joke captioned it, “My beast mowing the lawn with a breeze in his hair.” A friend shared it with a storm chaser who put it on Twitter, and from there it was made into countless memes.
I think it resonated because of all the turmoil in the world this year. It appeared online around the time Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, and the London Bridge attack. People saw me carrying on with my chores with my back to this huge tornado, and likened it to carrying on with their own lives.
The tornado never did come any closer: it took some roofs off nearby barns and then moved east and died down about 30 minutes later. And I was able to finish my lawn.
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