Spring.
It's my favorite time of year.
My front yard is covered in pretty flowers.
Everything from Tulips and Petunias, to Marigolds.
The animals are enjoying lazy afternoons in the sun.
And Niko has resumed his favorite pastime: digging up mole trails.
BUT....
Spring also means I have to deal with these:
And I'm just not a fan of these terrible, terrible things called tornadoes.
So, since I've decided to blog about my life in Northeastern Oklahoma, it was only a matter of time before my posts would lead me here.
I grew up in Southern California. We don't have storms out there. O.K. That's not entirely true. Occasionally, I experienced some pretty wimpy thunderstorms. I've survived a few earthquakes. And I've witnessed several massive brush fires that burned a little too close to home. But nothing compared to these crazy things that destroy literally everything in their path.
The only good thing I can say about tornades (yes, there is one good thing!) is that they can pretty much predict when one will hit. And if you live in town, the tornado sirens sound and
allow you (hopefully!) enough time to safely seek shelter.
Last spring, I don't remember whether or not we were under any tornado warnings. There were a couple of tornado watches, but I don't think I was ever actually worried that one would hit my house. So, on Wednesday night, when the lovely weather forecaster told me that even though tornadoes were a possiblity, they were unlikely, I believed her! And I went to bed without too much worry.
Fast forward an hour and a half later...
It's 12:24 a.m.
Through the open window, I heard the most awful sound: the tornado siren. I'm not sure who jumped out of bed faster--my husband or me--but we were both racing for the door at the same time. He ran to turn on the T.V. as I spent about 5 long seconds debating whether to seek instant shelter in the closet or wake my mother in the room across the hall. Deciding on the latter, I flew her door open and yelled, "Get in the closet NOW! The tornado sirens are going off!"
I slammed the door shut and took a few steps back. Realizing my mother hadn't answered me, I flung her door open again and saw that she was still in bed.
"Mom! Get in the closet now!"
She responded with an angry, "I'm trying!"
After that, I ran to our very large closet and began unloading everything as quickly as I could. After 15 or so seconds, the sirens stopped blaring and my husband returned to our bedroom.
"You can get up," he gently told me, noticing I was out of breath from flinging things all over the room in an attempt to empty the closet as quickly as possible.
"I can't," I responded.
"Why not?" He sounded confused.
"Because my legs are shaking so hard. I can't stand up," I responded.
The rush of adrenaline had subsided when the sirens stopped and I began shaking all over. My husband kneeled beside me and told me it was O.K.
"I have never been this scared in my life," I told him.
After a few minutes, when I could finally stand, I ran into the kitchen and grabbed some granola bars and water. I also grabbed the dog's leash and then returned to the room to finish unloading the closet. The newscaster said our tornado warning was not over yet so I knew I needed to prepare for the worst.
And as I was taking out the last of the stuff in the closet, those sirens began again.
I dropped everything and ran into my mom's room.
"Mom! They're going again!"
She slowly opened the closet door. "I'm still in here. I have my pillow. I think I'm just going to sleep in here tonight."
"Do you have the cat?"
"No," Mom replied. "He was being really lame and wouldn't come when I called so I was like 'forget him.'"
I could see Oliver sitting on the edge her bed. I grabbed him and threw him into the closet.
"Stay in there until I tell you it's safe to emerge."
I returned to my room as the sirens stopped again. This was getting insane.
I grabbed some clothes and shoes and put them into a bag. Then I went in search of my husband. I found him in the living room, his face glued to the T.V. I sat down next to him, but after a few minutes, the sirens started blaring again. We raced to the closet.
The sirens blared for a few mintues as the dog sat on my lap. My husband kept running between the living room and closet, trying to find out what was going on. When the sirens finally turned off, my husband and I made our way into the living room and plopped down on the couch to watched the news for updates.
We sat there a while. Until 1:55 am when I heard my mother's bedroom door open.
"Are you guys kidding me?"
Uh-oh. I had forgotten to tell her she could get out of the closet.
"Well," I said, "we've been under a warning this whole time. I thought you were going to sleep in your closet anyway."
"It's too uncomfortable. I don't like laying on my shoes," she explained as she sat down in the recliner.
After a few laughs, we all went to bed. But I did not sleep.
A few lessons the first tornadoes of Spring 2013 taught me:
1. I'm obviously not that attached to my computer because I wasn't even worried about saving it.
2. If a tornado had struck, and my life ended, my final thoughts would have been: "I'm so glad I had turkey and mashed potatoes for dinner. That's a really good last supper."
3. I own too many shoes. They were scattered all over my room after emptying the closet. Which led to my husband telling me I could only keep the bare minimum in our bedroom. The rest are now in the garage. By bare minimum, I hope he meant no less than 9 pairs.
4. I put too much trust in the hands of the weather people. Especially Jennifer Zepplin on channel 8. She may have convinced me tornadoes were not a threat (when they obviously were), but I still like her.
5. My father and brother aren't concerned about my safety. Because neither texted me back after I told them my life was in danger. O.K. My dad did reply, but not until after I texted him the next morning letting him know that I was alive.
6. As many beautiful things I have in my house, none of them were important enough to take with me into that closet. I only grabbed the dog and my husband. I think that tells me everything I need to know about life. Family is the only thing that matters.
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