Storm on the Horizon

There's a big storm brewing on the horizon. Actually, it's less horizon-ey now and more right in front of the building, ready to pass over.

It's a pretty regular thing in the area I live and work in. Last night we had to go to the basement for shelter as we were smack dab in the center of a big tornado cell. Josh was upstairs on the phone with his girlfriend and he heard the sirens on her end of the line. We're too far out in the country to hear them, but she lives close to town, so she could. She said she thought an ambulance was going past. Josh recognized the sirens were tornado sirens and he told her that he had to go, that she should take cover as well. I had been telling Rob to turn to a local channel so we could see what was happening with the weather. He was watching a game, so he was waiting until a commercial to flip over. Josh ran downstairs and told us about the sirens. He's always been watchful of the weather since he was little. The movie "Twister" really impacted him, so he's the first to spot an odd looking cloud formation.

Once when I was with my grandfather we sighted a little twister. It destroyed the front of one house and the nearby barn. Grandpa was retired but he was delivering papers and working part time at a carpentry shop to keep busy. I was helping him on his paper route when the twister went bouncing down the road about 1/4 of a mile from where we were. We were approaching the last intersection before heading home. Needless to say, he punched the gas and we drove home at a rapid pace. We alterted my grandmother and we all took cover in the basement. There was no damage to our house or yard that day other than a few downed tree limbs.

Another time I was about 14 or 15 and I was home alone when the weather got bad. My grandparents seldom ever went out on a "date," but they decided to have dinner with a couple friend of theirs. They headed out and about an hour later it started to storm. I was sitting in the living room in the west part of the house. All of a sudden I heard a ear-splitting crack, followed by a loud booming noise. I ran and looked outside toward the direction of the noise, and I realized what had happened. Lightening had struck our old apple tree, splitting it in half. One half of it fell on the house, the other was still standing, charred. I was quite taken aback and was majorly relieved when they came back home.

Well, the sky has opened up and it is pouring down rain. I just hope it rains hard then calms down. We had a restless night, as the weather warnings didn't really let up until midnight. Rob was so nervous that he really didn't sleep well. Consequently, he had a hard time focusing at work. He always stops at a gas station for a caffienated fountain pop in the mornings so he can wake up. He said he was so tired that he spilled one at the gas station. They cleaned it up, he got another and just as he walked in to work and spilled that one, too.

My youngest was restless as well last night. He started crying when we had to go to the basement. He said he didn't want to come up and see everything destroyed. I explained to him that taking shelter in the basement was our way of protecting ourselves. I tried to let him know that things can be replaced, people can't. I also told him that more than likely the storm would not hit us directly, but we were taking shelter just in case it did. He seemed to calm down and we only had to stay in the basement for about ten minutes until the storm blew over.

Well, the rain has tapered off, so I am going to make my getaway now. Hopefully the sun prevails and the weekend weather is a little less exciting.

Hope you have a great weekend wherever you may be.