The Great Storm of 2011

Maybe that title is a little dramatic . . . but it was a BIG storm around here. Thursday night a much anticipated front moved through the state and with it came some huge storms. The first one that we noticed hit around 10:00/10:30. Around then we saw a huge flash of lightening followed by no cable. Boo. We are sorely dependent on our cable for more than television . . . it also provides service to our phone and our internet, so while we could call out on our cells, from 10:30 that night until sometime after 12 on Friday we were cut off from all other forms of media and communication. Normally I would say that it was inconvenient at best, but Thursday night (early morning?) when the tornado sirens were going off we were clueless as to where the storms actually were. Sometimes when they go off, the tornado is somewhere like by the airport and nowhere near us, but since we didn't know where it was this time, we drug our sleeping babies and puppy dog to Josh's office under the stairs. We did have the thought to bring Caroline's radio as well and were able to find a station covering the weather. Once we believed it was safe, we put everyone back to bed and fell into ours completely exhausted.

And then I got a text from our local NBC station at 2:26 informing me that we would be under a severe thurnderstorm warning until 2:15. Did you follow that? It sent me a message after the warning was over that the warning was coming. All the while the sirens are still going off and I never got a text message for that. Go figure. Technology can only get you so far. I personally felt ok about the storms because my stomach never got unsettled.

Without getting too detailed, let's just say my gut is the best predictor of storms I know. My biggest fear in a tornado is where I will actually be when it hits our house . . . I hope the bathroom really is a safe place to be . . .

When we got up Friday morning, other than being tired, we were no worse for the wear. A few of my friends and I checked in with each other to make sure everyone still had roofs and upright trees. Around 8:30, my cousin's wife called and asked if we were ok. I was thinking how sweet it was that she was checking on us when she told me that my aunt and uncle's house had sustained quite a bit of damage when a large tree fell on it.

Y'all. When I say a tree fell on it I mean a tree moved into their sun room and left nothing in the ground. It wasn't a large branch flying off . . . there is a sideways tree in their house.

Nature is amazing and frightening.

Their best guess is that a tornado came through their neighborhood. When I took them some lunch I was shocked at the damage and debris, and true to form, some yards and houses were untouched while others were in total disarray.

The wonderful news is they are ok. They were home and in their "safe place" as the meteorologists say. There is damage that is inconvenient and it is hard to see your home damaged--it's just unsettling because we all want our homes to be our sanctuaries from the crazy world NOT the crazy place.

The truth is, I started this post Friday and never got a chance to finish it and while I am sure I had a wonderful outline for it in my head with clever and witty and meaningful comments to accompany the riveting stories, now all I know is I have a headache and no clue where I was headed with it. So I have gone back through and changed it to the correct tenses for a Saturday post instead of a Friday one and now I am heading to get several Ibuprofen . . .

Next week I will be a better more interesting blogger, tonight I am going to bed.