Weathering the Weather

 

It's been a crazy year for the weather. The Missouri river which borders the east side of Nebraska has been flooding for weeks. Despite all of that water, none of it seemed to be falling from the sky in my neck of the woods. The last three attempts of moisture in the form of rain, resulted in less than a tenth of an inch each time.

So when Monday came with threats of more rain, I was one of those people who actually rejoiced that finally there was a decent chance of rain.

The weatherman continued to warn of severe weather, terrible weather, tornado weather, but all I thought about was rain. I had spent hours that day out in the garden watering and trying to keep the plants from becoming dry tumbleweeds.

In the evening it came, the darkness. Not from night falling but the huge squall line that stretched across the horizon. The unbearable mugginess was feeling cooler and the winds gusted high in the tree tops. It got darker, the wind got stronger, and I could tell it was going to be a big storm.

As a kid I use to love to watch a storm. The excitement of seeing mother nature unleash her fury can be both scary and awesome at the same time. I remember watching thru the window pane and seeing trees bending over, their tops nearly touching the ground. I have watched trees be split in two and come crashing to the ground. It was scary but there is something about watching it all unfold that keeps one rooted to their spot, and just think.....wow. 

I heard the back door blow open and went to close it and stood there watching til it was so dark looking out towards the west that I came in to look out the front door heading east. A few years ago, a storm came thru and I did the same thing. I watched the storm come from the west and marveled at how the wind blew, little knowing that if I had brains enough, I should have also been checking the skies to the east where a tornado was less than a half mile from me further up the hill.

So this time I went to the front door to look towards the east. The tree tops were like giant egg beaters as the winds from the south blew while the cooler winds of the north tried to push them back. The clouds were low and the skies so dark, except for the thinnest of ribbon of light on the horizon.

Hmmm, I thought, should I be taking cover? I ran to put on my grass stained gardening shoes. I wanted to be wearing my most comfortable pair of shoes in case I had to run anywhere. Silly now when I think back on it. Just where was I going to run to? I don't have a basement or root cellar. I know they constantly tell you to seek shelter in a low area or a small contained area like a closet.  Seriously, have they seen my closets? I can't even find a pair of shoes in there, let alone actually step into one. I have a feeling though I could have cleaned one out in 2.3 seconds if I felt the roof coming off the house or the four walls moving.

Hmmmm, should I be opening one window on the southeast and closing all the others? I forget which window it is they use to tell you to open to relieve pressure inside the house. I had several open. Should I be away from any windows? Not from them breaking so much as from being struck by lightening. I heard that once, that lightening can come thru windows.  Should I be taking cover in the bathtub? I have to tell you I have an unnatural fear of being caught in the bathroom when a tornado strikes while I am doing my personal business. Fears of being caught in the shower with nothing but a shower curtain wrapped around me while the house lies in rubble is another fear. Which  reminds me, I need to get a different shower curtain, that clear textured one that I have now is not going to hide anything.

It's amazing the stupid stuff we think of when we think danger is near. As a kid I marveled, still afraid but also thinking how cool it was. As an adult, all I could think of was, limbs down, blown off shingles, lots of work and expense from just a brief few minutes of mother nature's wrath.

I continued watching out the front door, the trees still whipping about, north and south in giant circles when the rain finally started to fall. It blew in sheets from the west as the tiny ribbon of light in the east disappeared into the darkness of night.

Rain, finally. I somehow felt better then. That the worst was past and I could just stand there at the glass and look out and think...wow.