Reply #10: So far I've not really gotten scared -- a bit nervous a few times. [View All]

[scarletwoman]

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