~The Storm and the Foxhole~

Life is one adventure after another.

My co-workers have witnessed my tornado-phobic behavior firsthand. They text me when storms are coming and attempt to keep me calm (an impossible task most of the time). The secretary and I made plans at the beginning of this storm season for her to call me at home on my landline phone when the tornado siren goes off in town. Well, shortly after I returned home from work on Monday, I noticed the thunderclouds were rolling in, so I called to let her know that I would be on the computer and she could reach me by cell phone (yes, I have reverted to the dark ages and have dial-up internet). The storm was not forecast to be tornadic, so I wasn't concerned until she replied, "Hon, the sirens are going off right now and have been for about 10 minutes. I'm already in my safe place." I laughed and said, "Yeah, right!". She had to repeat that she was serious. At that point, I said, "Oh, okay. I better take cover, too!" By that time, the clouds were rolling over the hill beside my house and the rain was pouring. After all those years of reading disaster preparation books and watching The Weather Channel, you might not believe this, but----I was UNPREPARED!

I raced around the house grabbing a raincoat, blanket, flashlight, landline phone, and my trusty World War II helmet. I went outside and the dogs were right behind me (they hate storms, too). All four of us went underneath the house (crawlspace/storage) and I sat on a large container of paintballs, all while clutching a flashlight, blanket, and phone. As I stepped through the crawlspace door, I saw a spider hanging from the flashlight. He was dead (thankfully), but I still turned the flashlight off because I didn't care to see whatever else was creeping around. By that time, the wind had picked up and it was hailing. I hit the call button on the landline phone only to realize that I had forgotten to plug it in topside so there was no dial tone. My cell phone had a faint signal enabling me to text my mom and a co-worker to tell them where I was located.

I'm sure the fact that I had on a helmet, was surrounded by three large dogs (clutching Stanley, I might add, for comfort. I'm surprised I didn't accidentally suffocate him.), and would occasionally yelp in surprise and flail around whenever a spider web floated by would have made a hilarious spectacle. Thankfully, no one else other than my dogs witnessed the ordeal.

The storm blew in and out within 20 minutes. We came out from underneath the house during a torrential downpour, so I was soaked by the time I made it back inside. After finding dry clothes, I loaded a backpack with supplies (flashlight, pack of crackers, bottle of soda, & blanket) should the need arise for us to return to the 'foxhole'. I plan to put a chair under there (more comfortable than a tub of paintballs) and perhaps add a reading lamp and rug to get that Better Homes and Gardens look. ;)

Mild (okay, moderate to high) levels of panic make adventures all the more interesting! :) And by the way, a tornado did form on the other side of town during that storm, but didn't touch down. It made the front page of the newspaper, reassuring me somewhat that my actions were not completely in vain.