As much as I have always tried, I just cannot get over my fear of thunderstorms. Oh, I don't mind the rain; it is the wind, thunder, lightening and often times tornadoes that accompany the rain that scares me. Today was one of those days that I would have liked to just lay around and read, watch movies or knit. There was one task, however, that I had to get accomplished for my husband who was out of town. I had to make my way down to the post office and mail our taxes. YEP! Unfortunately, I don't think the IRS would consider a thunderstorm a good reason for receiving their payment late. So, just as I was getting ready to leave for the post office, I got a phone call from my mother who told me I better "take cover" since a tornado was spotted out by me. GREAT...(sigh). I checked the weather and sure enough, there was a tornado spotted right by me and about that time, the wind kicked up and the rain began to pour. The weather alert did say to "take cover", so playing is safe, I called my two doxies and we went to my closet and sat in there for a while. When I thought the worst of the storm had passed, we exited the closet and I continued to prepared to leave for the post office.
As I was pulling my car out of the garage, there was a BOOM so loud that I actually pulled right back into the garage while I got my courage up to head to town. As I hit the road, I noticed that not only were the ditches overflowing with water, but the poor neighbors' yards were flooded, leaving them looking like a lake. I drove down the highway just a bit before the bottom fell out. Rain was falling in sheets so intensely that I could barely see out of my windshield. OK...so this was just one more reason to hate the IRS!
By the time I got to the post office, the rain had slacked up some and curiously enough there was that perpetual line one always finds at the post office. The sky was still dark, however, indicating there would be more storms to come. I quickly finished my business and got on the road back to my house. Eventually, I settled in, turned the television on and took out my knitting. I could tell the sky was getting darker as I sat there, but didn't think anything of it until a roll of thunder shook the house. Not only did I almost drop the knitting, but I immediately jumped up, took a look outside and called the dogs as we headed back to the closet once again. With me, I took my computer and telephone. I had only been sitting there for a minute or two when the phone rang. It was my sister this time telling me that a tornado had hit a little convenience store down the road from my house. I told her that I was already in the closet.
The front apparently pushed through as the air turned cooler and the storms settled down. I was happy not only because I'm not a fan of storms, but I was getting sort of tired of sitting in that closet...
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