We've been sacked by the weather this spring. SACKED. It rains, it pours, it STORMS. And I am terrified of storms. TERRIFIED. Whenever it storms, I think a tornado is coming and we will all be sucked away and we're going to die. When it storms I listen for the low rumble of a tornado, I listen and listen. I have never been in a tornado I've just always been scared of them. When I was younger I would go into my parent's bedroom and sleep on their floor for protection. When I got older I'd pack up my pillow, favorite blanket and my biggest stuffed monkey and head to the basement and sleep on the couch. We lived in flat northwest Ohio which had its share of bad weather. Never a tornado, but lots of strong storms and wind. In college, there was many a time when I was frightened of storms. I got a little better when my husband and I moved to southern Ohio after college because I had a husband for protection but also because we had milder weather in the southern part of the state. I was rarely scared. Our first house had a basement - it was a split-level which was perfect - we'd just bunker down in the family room if it was storming. I felt pretty safe.
But wouldn't you know - we sell our house, move into an apartment (a SECOND FLOOR APARTMENT!) and we're having the worse batch of spring storms that I can remember ever having?!?! I am scared to DEATH!
I need a basement. I can't handle being in an apartment. We have no interior rooms. If a tornado did come through, we'd have to cower in the hallway near our laundry closet. I don't feel safe with that option. Not safe at all. I need a basement. Either that or Mother nature needs to just go ahead and get over herself and STOP IT! ENOUGH! I can't take it any more!
This spring we've had terrifying weather. Too much rain. Too, too many storms. Last week, I was especially scared: Our forecast one night was this: "Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail, and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 63F." For the love of all that is holy! And that night of storms came right after a night of storms that kept me up for hours. Uggggggg!!! I was skeeerd. And when I DID wake up when it was storming (I never, ever sleep through storms) we had a tornado warning. A WARNING. I about came unglued. I was panicking. I hate feeling helpless - like there's no where we can go to be safe. I feel incredibly vulnerable in an apartment! And there's a tornado WARNING! WHICH MEANS A REAL TORNADO! {My mind immediately starts droning, "dying in a tornado! shelter! take cover! you're going to get sucked away and DIE!!!} I had to force myself to keep my cool. My husband and I assessed the situation and it didn't appear to be quite so severe. The worse part of the storm was south of us. We were poised to take shelter - clutching our cell phones and Ipods, ready to grab the girls and take cover if needed. But we didn't need to. That night, thankfully, the storms weren't severe. They were strong, but no tornadoes. Thank goodness.
Not fully trusting our Ipods and cell phones for reliable, up-to-date weather radar - we purchased last weekend my savior:
A weather radio. It lives right by my head on my nightstand.
I love that thing so much. If there's a watch, warning or super severe weather, this baby will tell me. It's battery powered, so it's going to always be ready to warn me.
I feel much safer. Not as safe as I would feel underground, but, safe enough. Having a weather radio helps to suppress my panicked mind - I trust that I'll *know* if something bad is coming, instead of automatically just always assuming that something bad is coming.
But really, enough is enough! I'm done with this weather. No more storms!
