Something different......

Tonight.....I went outside and walked back and forth in front of my house....watching the sky.

There were no clouds.....and the stars were out.

The stars were out!

I wanted to plant a kiss on each and every one of those little lights.

It seems like months since the sky was clear.....and months since my head was free of nagging thoughts......Is it time to check my weather app?? or turn on the TV to check which storms were heading into our area...how many hours did I have before it hit?.....how bad would it be?

Siege mentality...day after day of wondering when you would need to dive in closet or seek shelter from massive storms....

And the storms have been brutal.....the south is known for throwing lightening and thunder around that could knock a person over.......but these storms have been vicious....holding something raw and dangerous in them.....which made your heart beat faster and the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

Couple this personal experience with stories....our local news stations have inundated us with storm stories....children sucked out of their mothers' arms during a twister.....decapitations.....people disappearing....cars left in trees.

I've handled all of them pretty well....except for one story I heard the other day....which keeps tugging on me....the sheer horror and serendipity of the universe in full display.

It's a tornado story from Joplin.....I read about it in one of the national papers....they were reporting on missing people.....one missing person is a teenager who just celebrated his graduation across town....while driving back from the event....the twister hit his car....and the boy was sucked out of the sun roof of the car and has not been seen......a young man....sucked out a sun roof....his father in the car but spared.

It is tragic sad unbelievable weird.....and sticky story. It has stuck with me....I catch myself visualizing a young adult.....being pulled up into the sky. In a very weird way....it reminds me of the rapture stories from the previous week....when some people believed The Chosen would be elevated and taken up into the sky....unto God.

I hope this is where this young man went....unto God.... into the universe....very quickly....without pain and fear. And for his father.....who was left behind....who sees this image every minute now too.....I can only mentally send my deepest sympathy...and hope that someday he will be able to live without seeing this image every time he breathes.

I think I'll hit publish post and go outside again....check on the stars...make sure they are there....

How strange to think of sleeping through the night without the worry..... to sleep and not to think about some radar.....some radar with green and red and pink.....heading for your home....how many times I have talked to my home and said silently to it....be strong....hold on....let the fury flow over you.

What strange strange times these have been.......

Out to Sea........

So this is how it’s going to end…..I thought…nibbling on my clam strip.

I ditched tornadoes in Omaha…..Chicago….and the South….only to be swooshed away on a strip of beach on Long Island….How ironic.

I wonder what the folks would say at home.

"Did you hear about Gina and her hub….they got blown away in a lobster roll?"

"What were they doing in a big bun?"

"No no they were in a skimpy fish shack called the Lobster Roll…..and got blown out to sea."

I ate another clam strip (they were too good to leave behind…) and waited for my Dorothy moment.

The wait staff looked pale….they had already battened down the shack….secured the awnings…..locked the windows.

The hostess ….a young pale thing…..maybe 18 years old…..gazed out the doorway saucer-eyed and stood absolutely still……as if somewhere…. in some fish shack manual….it said …..if there’s an impending tornado….stay calm…. gaze out the doorway…..and stand motionless next to your podium.

A few minutes ago…..a woman arrived at the restaurant….dripping wet from the gale outside and announced….there was a tornado reported down the road.

Everyone gasped and looked out the windows…..she sat down….however, and picked up a menu….I guess if you’re at a famous fish shack on the Montauk highway….you might as well place your order…..

it could be….after all…. the ultimate TO GO order.

The lights went out…. came back on….then went out again

The storm….sheets of rain with wind that shook the shack was not letting up. 20 minutes ago we were driving down the highway under overcast skies….where did this monster storm come from?

Since there was no place to run to or hide…..it made sense just to stay put….but as an experienced duck-and-cover-here-comes- a potential-tornado-person…..I knew the thin wooden walls of the old fish shack would probably hold for only a nanosecond or two….if the real thing was bearing down on us.

Still….I asked my husband to sit at the end of the booth seat…..he rolled his eyes….but complied.

“If the place starts to go….we can dive under the table.”

“You’re kidding ...right?.”

“Well it would give us something to do as the place blows away.”

I continued to eat my golden delicious clam strips ...as water dripped from the window next to the table….….leaves and bits of trees flew by outside.

The hostess remained firm at her post.

Gradually….the rain stopped…..and the waiter appeared to remove my plate.

He looked relieved we were still on Terra Firma.

“Would you like dessert?”

“Yes …Please,” I said with true joy....

because you should always celebrate not getting blown out to sea in a flimsy fish shack on your vacation.

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To amuse myself while the storm raged.....I doctored a little sketch the restaurant gave out to kids to color while waiting for their food....

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Glimpsing the Big Blue Orb.......

Last night......one of the biggest storms I'd ever been through in the south....tore through our area.
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I don't remember storm warnings during the day.... and until the tornado sirens went off....I didn't realize the storm was more dangerous than previous thunderstorms which have rumbled through our area during the last week.
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I was writing yesterday's blog when the sirens went off...and I guess I must have a bit of a writer's soul....because....I didn't stop...or save the entry....I published it...lol....just in case.

After "publish post", I shut down the computer and headed downstairs to round up the boys.

"Where's the tornado guys?"

"I don't know."
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"Don't you have the TV on?"
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"Uh-huh."
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"But you haven't been watching the local stations.?"
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"Right."
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Obviously time for me to grab my superwoman cape.

"Okay You find a local channel.....and You get the emergency radio."

"The satellite went out.... there's no TV."

"Okay....get in my car and check the radio."

Minutes later....one son sets up the radio and the robotic voice of the National Weather Service comes on...but still no exact funnel cloud location. Maybe the local radio stations are more helpful.

I open the door to the garage and yell at my son. "So where's the tornado?"

"I don't know."

"What are you doing?"

"Listening to the radio."

"What?"

"You said ' go in the car and turn on the radio..."

"To find out where the tornado is....not to listen to music."

"Oh."

He plays the tuner and finds some addresses. The tornadoes are actually in the metropolitan area. Having grown up in tornado alley...I did what any good Midwestern person would do....I went outside and looked around.

But only for a minute.... as the lightening crackled above....and the rain cascaded down in thick sheets. This is way too close I thought.....I got the boys ready to dive into the pantry (which our builder told us is the safest place in the house).....and I ran upstairs to get the cat.

"Here Kitty Kitty."

Cat is damn smart and probably detected the urgency in my voice.

"Kitty Kitty."

I can almost hear her mental thoughts...."No way lady."

I tip over our big bedroom upholstered chair (her favorite storm hangout).... reach down and grab her. She actually hangs onto the carpet with her back claws....and starts howling...but I've got lots of adrenalin pumping...and kitty is pulled up and tucked under my arm before she can blink twice. I rush her downstairs and toss her in the hall closet.

And we wait...and listen to the radio....and I occasionally go outside.

The lightening silhouettes the bad clouds...and waves of sirens are blaring all over the city... it seems to have passed us ....but after a short break....another wave of storms approach...and now it's 11:30 pm...and my hub's plane is supposed to land in twenty minutes.

My son checks flight tracker....and surprisingly the plane is a short distance from the airport. That's crazy....what are they going to do....land between tornadoes?....My son checks out another website and sure enough the plane....is still shown above the airport.

So I grab my son's car....and head off to the airport.....and within 10 minutes....I'm in the belly of another storm.

The lightening bolts are so close the hair on my head feels like its standing up....a large thick bolt off to my right....hits the power station nearby and suddenly a beautiful eerie blue-aqua ball floats up into the sky.

Now I am scared....I can hardly see out the window....the road is flooded....and the trees are waving wildly......so I did what any good woman would do.....I start to cry.....because my hub is in a metal tube 10,000 feet above me and will surely crash...and a lightening bolt is sure to turn me into the next big blue orb.

So Here's an important lesson I learned last night....always keep your eyes wide open when driving....i.e.. don't cry in low visibility and look through itty bitty eye slits....because in a few minutes...I hit a stealth flooded section of road and lose control of the car.

Fortunately, I was the only idiot on the freeway in this section so I didn't crash into anyone.....only my heart felt like it hit a brick wall. I recover and keep going to the airport.

My son calls just as I hit the airport perimeter. They diverted the plane.

Relieved, I turned around....and only allowed light sniffling....since I didn't want to hydroplane into a wheelie again.

I made it home but had the boys sleep on the family room couches for a while. The rain...lightening...and thunder seem to rumble on forever.
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Finally it quieted down....I went outside...it was probably around 2am....I stood on my front sidewalk....scanning the sky....and mentally said to the earth...enough already.
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My next door neighbor was also out...nobody was getting much sleep....we waved.
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"You okay?"
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"Yes....you?"

"Patio's flooded and we can't get the dog out from under our bed."

I laughed....

then groaned....

shit....

I went over to the closet door......and knocked.

"Kitty Kitty" I said sweetly......

"MMMEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWW"

I stepped back and let the angry tiger out of her closet prison.
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