The Difference A Year Can Make

Last March we experienced our very first mid-west thunder storm. I had heard they were a sight to behold, but I really had no idea just how powerful they can be. Really. The first few storms I was scared, like really scared. Like curl in bed with all the kids with the blinds open so we can make sure the lightning doesn't hit us scared. The thunder echoes from miles away, and the night skies light up like strobe lights. One flash after another. And the rain, oh the rain! People, we're talking buckets of ginormous rain drops pouring from the heavens. And it can go on for hours.

Now around this time last year, we also experienced our very first tornado warning. Talk about fear! We live in an apartment (hopefully we'll break free soon!) that is one level, so our 'safe place' has to be the big bathtub in the master bathroom. We also have a siren located directly across the street from the complex. Big and ominous. It makes me nervous just looking at it. Anyway, once that siren gets going, it's loud, and scary and ominous--but I already said that.

Last year on a balmy spring day after dinner, the siren started winding up. It starts out quiet, and it rotates, so at first you're not sure what's going on. Then we knew. The TV news went on. The kids were gathered. The bathtub was filled to the brim with my offspring and all their favorite blankets and pillows. We moved. I paced nervously from the bathroom to the TV to the porch. Keeping an eye on sky. It was calm out, so very calm. Looking up, you could literally see the clouds rotating above your head. I froze like a deer in the headlights, certain a tornado was going to drop on us at any second. The kids were scared, I was scared. Don couldn't contain himself, he got out the video camera and got on his cell phone calling his friends "this is too cool to miss" he said. This continued for about an hour. Sirens on and off every five minutes. TV weathermen finally getting their moment in the spotlight. Then it was over, and I was shaken.

Fast forward a full year. Now thunderstorms-- I crave them. They are the perfect ending to a hot and humid day, our excuse to stay home and curl up together and watch the magic outside. The rain makes me happy---the huge warm drops and the smell----heaven.

Tornado warnings. They still scare me, boy howdy they do! But as the sirens were going off today, I noted a change in our reactions from living in tornado alley. (First of all, it was mid-day, not the usual time for a "disturbance" to occur. Those usually happen early-evening when the temperatures start to drop.)

I was watching cartoons with Reese while I folded clothes.
Sirens.
"Hmmm, it's not Wednesday" (siren testing day) I think.
I continue folding laundry.
Sirens. All over the city.
Reese doesn't even hear it.
I say, "Reese, there's a tornado siren, I need to turn on the news"
"No mom! I'll miss my show!" She responds.
I hit the guide button, so I can surf the channels while her show stays on.
Nothing. Some possible flooding down south. No tornados.
Still sirens.
I put in another load of laundry. This tornado will not keep me from getting my laundry done today! I'm on a roll dang-it.
I start texting.
First to Olivia "what the..." mine reads
She responds with "checking the weather channel, nothing"
Wierd.
More sirens.
I finish folding a batch. I look outside. Doesn't look suspicious.
More sirens.
I text Corie "what's going on?"
She says "I'm wondering the same thing! Sure doesn't look like a tornado outside"
So I sit and fold. And text.
Then I start getting annoyed, those darn sirens are going to wake up Owen.
They stop.
Found out later it was a drill.

As I finished up the laundry I thought about how drastically our reactions have changed from being here only one year. I went from immediately jumping to action back then, to now being warily guarded (I'm not negligent though!) The sound of the siren is still shrilling and sends tingles down my spine. I don't think I'll ever get used to that. I just hope if the need ever arises that I need to take immediate action, I will be able to without question. Until then, I am so grateful we have the warnings as well as Doppler---which tracks the hovering 'rotations' down to the very street. It's pretty amazing technology.

Oh, and when the kids got home from school, I asked them if they heard the sirens and went downstairs to the shelter. "Nope, didn't hear the sirens, didn't go down to the shelter" they said.

Not a very effective drill was it?