Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Stormy weather

As we say in Texas, it's "fixin' to come a gullywasher." We are under a severe storm alert until some time later tonight, and I have the TV on, muted, to watch for weather updates. Betty and I just had wine and crab cakes on a restaurant patio, and there was that wonderful sense of anticipation, with people glancing frequently at the rapidly darkening sky.
Several years ago, when there was a tornado in Fort Worth, she and I sat in a restaurant and watched the sky turn green. Then the heavy rain began, and we shrugged and ordered another glass of wine. The tornado that tore up downtown passed within a mile of where we were. Later, her husband looked at the two of us in amazement and said, "I can't believe you just sat there and ordered another drink." Even with all the windows, we were safer than if we'd ventured out, but I did think maybe the restaurant should have alerted customers. What if we had to dive under the tables?
I love watching a good storm, though Texas has taught me to be a bit cautious. Once when my children were little, there was a storm warning and the sky turned green. My ex- and I were running errands, and I called home and asked the nanny if she knew what to do with the children--we lived in a house with a basement, a Texas rarity, at the time. She said, "Oh, yes ma'am. What?"
When I was growing up, we spent two weeks every summer at a cabin perched high on a dune at the very foot of Lake Michigan. I loved to watch storms roll down the lake, gathering force as they came, churning up the water into high whitecaps. On the back side of the cabin was forest and all was always serene there even when it was wild on the lake side.
Jacob is terrified of storms. If he hears thunder, he rushes to look and see if the sky is green. On stormy nights, he says, "I think I better sleep with you tonight." I would love to share my delight in storms with him but I'm not sure how to do it.
I pray, of course, that we have no tornado, no damaging winds but a good heavy soaking rain. Texas, once again--or still--in the throes of a drought, needs it.

2 comments:

Jan Romes said...

My husband shares your love for storms; me, not so much. I am sure there's a certain beauty in them, but that 's one beauty that I'd prefer escape me :-). * Interesting post, Judy *

judyalter said...

Thanks, Jan. I think I spoke too soon last night, since there was so much devastation. I've spent a good part of the morning checking on family and friends. All okay, thank goodnss.