Near the path of a tornado tonight.

[scarletwoman]

I had an idea for an OP I wanted to post tonight, but it turns out there's a tornado traveling in my general direction.

The sky is quite yellow right now. Heavy rain, thunder and lightning all around. The wind has been blowing hard for several hours, but now the trees outside my window don't seem to be moving at all.

The electricity has been flickering, but it's still on (obviously). If it goes out, I'll just sit in the dark and watch the sky in the southwest through my window until it gets too dark to see anything. By then I'll know that the tornado has passed by and I'll go to bed.

Part of the thrill of a Minnesota summer. :)

Who knows, maybe my next post will be from Oz.

:hi:
sw

[G_j]

1. ==

:hug:

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Stay safe!

[patrice]

3. Be safe and Be well, scarletwoman!

:grouphug:

[bobbolink]

4. Could you please pat the Cowardly Lion for me?

:hi:

Take care, and please check in later, so we know you aren't on the Yellow Brick Road!

[scarletwoman]

6. I'll give him a big hug. As long as the electriciy holds out, I'll keep posting.

If I DO make it to Oz, I've got big plans! Watch out, flying monkeys!

Woo hoo!

[bobbolink]

7. I clicked my heels too hard, and my red slippers broke, so I will just have to wish you well.

You say that this is how it is in your state. This may sound like a silly question, but does it get scary for you?

I ask because there aren't a lot of tornadoes here, but when there are, it scares me. A lot of it because they aren't predictable, thanks to the mountains. They are also fascinating, though. (I remember a whole lot of years ago, the warning sirens went off when I was at a church. We were all supposed to go to the basement, but the pastor and I went outside to watch for a while. It was a strange fascination... scary and yet really compelling at the same time.)

Its forest fires that send us up a wall......

Take good care of yourself.... maybe some choklit? :hi:

[scarletwoman]

10. So far I've not really gotten scared -- a bit nervous a few times.

Tornados are just sort of part of summer. A person prefers to not get directly hit, of course, but for me they're usually more fascinating than scary.

When I was 2 years old, a tornado tore off the roof of the aparment building we were living in at the time. All the residents were safely down in the basement at the time, so there was structural damage but no injuries to the people. Freaked my mom out, however, so we moved shortly afterward.

About 30-some years ago a tornado went through the neighborhood I was living in -- missed our street by half a block.

I've seen funnels from a distance, it's an eerie and awesome sight.

My closest call was about 11 years ago out camping in the woods with a group of friends. We could tell there was some heavy shit going down, but no one could decide whether to try to drive out of there -- no way to know if we'd end up heading straight into it -- so we rode it out where we were. It was pitch dark, the wind was howling all around, and all of a sudden half a giant cottonwood blew down, missing my tent by about 10 feet -- CRAAAASH!!!!

THAT got my attention! I had a hard time going to sleep after that, but the storm eventually blew by and everything quieted down.

The next day when we drove out, there were trees down everywhere, and the nearest town looked like a bomb had gone off over half of it. It was a bit sobering...

Truth is, I also fear forest fires more. I live surrounded by forest. Fire is never far from my mind during the summer, especially the last few years when it's been so dry. This year, however, we've been getting absolutely drenched -- non-stop rain for over two weeks. Suits me fine. :)

:hi:
sw

[scarletwoman]

5. Forgive me for posting such a self-indulgent post. I honestly don't want anyone to worry for me.

It's just that it's the most immediate thing on my mind at the moment, and I sorta thought: oh, what the heck, I'll write about it.

The wind has REALLY picked up now. No hail, which is a good sign.

I do love watching heavy weather. In a few minutes I can be pretty sure that there isn't going to be touchdown anywhere close.

I really did want to post something else tonight, but I sort of got distacted from the topic I had in mind.

I'll be sure to report if I see any elderly ladies riding by on broomsticks... :D

sw

[bobbolink]

9. Self-indulgent? Huh? ~~scratchin' head~~

You're a valued member of the community, and this *is* a big deal.

If some cranky DUers get pissy, there is that handy "hide thread" button.

Post away! :yourock:

[awoke_in_2003]

8. if the sky gets green...

start to really worry. I have witnessed several, and the sky takes on a eerie green shade.

[scarletwoman]

11. Been through a few, myself.

It's passed now. The path took it a bit north of where I live, unfortunately, it hit about 15 miles northwest of me.

on edit -- I meant "unfortunately" in that some other folks got hit. No one hurt, thank goodness.

[awoke_in_2003]

12. tornadoes tend to go north east...

stay south west of them and you will usually be ok.

[G_j]

13. I just saw some videos of those tornadoes!

wow!
I hope you'll check in again, just to make us feel better.

[awoke_in_2003]

15. that is good to hear...

west coast has fires and earthquakes, the north has blizzards, the southeast has hurricanes. Relatively speaking, tornadoes create narrow and focused destruction. If you have to live with natural events, I will take tornadoes.

[amborin]

14. please stay safe!