If you are standing on Mt. Adams’ summit, or sailing off New Hampshire’s seacoast, the storm may well arrive before you can get down to the treeline or into the harbor.

How long does it take an accident to steal a friend, a lover, a child? How long does it take a foreign attack to rattle a nation? How long does it take an employer to terminate a job? How long does it take a relationship to start splitting at the seams? How long before we find ourselves using our views to silence people, without even listening to theirs? How long before a peaceful morning turns into a bitter conflict?