The winds of change have just blown in

I was jarred out of bed at 2 a.m. to the roar of the wind.

You need to understand this about me -- I am HORRIBLY afraid of tornadoes. Really. I am. So, it could just be high winds, and I'm all, "Wait! Is that a howling train I hear barreling down on top of me!?"

It's bad.

So, I woke up at 2 a.m. to the roar of the wildest wind, and, as an added bonus, a massive headache. As I do every time it "feels" bad out, I turned on the TV, where I discovered that, in fact, we were under a tornado watch. I can never remember which is worse WATCH or WARNING, but in my mind, they are all bad. Therefore, my mind raced and sleep eluded me.

Sometime around 4:30 a.m., I finally settled into semi-sleep, only to be pulled from my less-than-dreamy slumber a half hour later by my alarm, at which point, the TV was now saying, the watches were warnings, and that at any time, the massive, ugly, fast-moving storm would be upon Franklin County ... MY COUNTY.

To make matters worse, Emmy was acting weird, and the wind was STILL howling. I debated jumping in the shower before the storms, but before I could, the tornado sirens began, and I grabbed a lawn chair, my flashlight, and the cat and headed down to the basement.

Thank goodness I had the forethought to buy a house with a basement! I've spent too many early mornings and late nights huddled in a small half-bath with all my worldly possessions. At least now, when the winds of a tornado suck Emmy and I out of either window in the basement, we'll have the comfort of knowing we didn't die next to a toilet.

I spent a good 15 to 20 minutes in the basement ... prime "getting ready time." Thankfully, the storm had lost some of its oomph by the time it reached my neighborhood, but my headache made up for it by building into a wildly out of control pain that banged horribly every time I inhaled or exhaled. To make matters worse, Emmy didn't want to sit in my lap, perfectly still, waiting for our demise. But rather, she wanted to wander around on the ground level in full view of any impending doom. I'd had the forethought to lock the kitty door, which would make what unfolded next seriously funny had I not been so FREAKED OUT ... as she spent a good five minutes banging her head on the kitty door, willing it to open.

The storm passed. My house is still standing. No damage that I could see. I was late getting ready for work this morning, but I made it to school just ahead of my students. So, I wasn't officially late ... just in my own book.

My migraine is still here, but we can't have it all, now can we?

Of course, my lovely 60 degree weather is gone, and in its place is a cool, dreary, damp 55 degrees.

Ahhhh Springtime ... the price we pay for pushing Old Man Winter out of the door ...

Comments

Mindy said…
Just remember with the watch/warning thing...
It's not a "watch out!" situation. More like:

Watch out for anything funky looking.
And
Warning! Warning! Danger Will Robinson!!

:) Mindy

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