TORNADOS!!!

 Today is Monday, March 28th.  I clarify that again along with the title of this blog in order to acclimate you with the weather we had (or did not have) this past Thursday, March 24th. My location at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains has always offered security from tornados. The pattern of global warming appears to encourage violent storms anywhere causing me to be more observant and aware of the possibility of the storms of this nature that did not exist fifty years ago in this area. Even today, those warnings seem a bit foreign, but are now taken seriously.

This past Thursday we were once again reminded that we, along with the rest of the country are vulnerable to the violent events of nature. Information that we receive from meteorologists is becoming more and more accurate.  We have also learned that the survivors heed the warning. Fortunately, we did not have a touch-down tornado.

What we did have were lots of warnings on our digital devices that seemed to occur with regularity every 10 - 15 minutes.  The first warning for me was with the six-o'clock news from one of the local Charlotte stations.  The report emphasized changing weather for our vicinity in the form of an approaching cold front.   We were to be aware of possible thunderstorms and increasing winds as the front moved through.  I had canceled a hair appointment earlier in order to be safe during the late afternoon hours and not be on a crowded highway. I was tucked safely away in my cottage when suddenly the power went off.  Not quite dark yet, I secured my flashlights as a precaution.

My daughter-in-law was concerned that I would be alone during the possible ensuing storms and offered to bring me to her house approximately five minutes away.  I accepted her generous offer because she had power, and a safe basement on the lowest level of her three-story house.  I knew I could not drive because the power outage prevented me from opening my garage door.

During my 2-3 hours there, we continued to watch the weather channels which increasingly showed a large amount of rain over our area.  We kept checking outside, but so far, no rain, nor thunder or lightening.  At the end of the second hour, we could hear distant thunder, but still no rain.  The radar on our phones showed no storms over our area; in fact, the radar showed all clear.  Since it was now nine-o' clock, and according to my report from my neighbor that power was resumed, I decided to have my daughter-in-law drive me home.  Things were clear!

We thought!  As we were approaching my cottage area, a sudden torrential downpour began along with lightning and thunder. (One of the main indications or approaching tornado!?)  I quickly ran into my house hoping that it was just a thunderstorm.  Omitting a shower, I changed into my PJ's and settled in bed with a good book.  Suddenly, a warning on my phone directed me to get to cover immediately!  Tornado Warning!

I grabbed all the pillows on my bed, my three flashlights (including the one that fit across my forehead), my phone and my book.  I settled into the hall bathroom shower and had managed to make myself as comfortable as possible.  Once again, the loud warning on my phone!  Next, my phone began to ring.....

This was my neighbor next door who was concerned for my safety.  He knew I did not have a finished basement and he did.  He and his wife invited me to come to their cottage next door and declared that they would meet me at their front door. ( Here, I will explain that even though they had a small concrete area in their basement, one could only enter from going through the house, across the back and wet deck, down some very wet steps, across a small area of grassy yard and then enter the back door.)

I accepted their invitation to safety, kept on my PJ's, threw on my old pair of shoes, my raincoat and grabbed my phone.  After turning on my outside front lights, I closed my locked door and walked down my curved walk to the street.  This it when it occurred to me that I was probably not doing the safe thing!

I am now eighty-one years old, it is pouring rain, I see flashes of lightning; however there is a warm calmness in the atmosphere. The tornado warnings are coming more frequently, and I am outside in the elements!  Even though I quickly acknowledged my stupidity, I continued on to my neighbor's cottage where they were waiting for me inside their front door as I stepped in to the safety of their house.

Well.............not quite...........We now had to proceed on this treacherous journey to the back deck (rain), down the very steep (wet) steps to the grassy (wet) yard.  We made it to the back basement door where we had chairs to sit on, phones to monitor the weather and a door to see outside. ( solid door that remained open)

We laughed about our predicament, that we were in our pajamas, and that we had to limit the drinks of water since there was no bathroom on that level! We shared stories of other storms and some unusually funny happenings during our lifetime.  It was a jovial atmosphere in spite of the possible danger  lurking outside the basement door.

We continued to get warnings on our phones and radar showing that the tornado was very close.  At one point, I stepped just outside the door and there was an errie calm outside with a sense of forboding.  I quickly came back inside where we all remained until we finally got an all-clear on the radar around 11:45.

I returned home around midnight, had my milk and cookie, climbed into bed and fell fast asleep.  I was safe!

Spelling and writing

While talking to one of my friends last week, I shared that I had begun writing again and am enjoying being one of the editors for a magazine we publish here in our community every other month.  She was not surprised that I had gotten involved in writing again, knowing that I had always integrated that into my nursing roles.  It was then she asked how or when did I first notice my desire to write. This is my story I shared with her.

I suppose my interest in writing began in elementary school during spelling B"s.  I would be among the final five or ten in the classroom as we advanced to the final spelling B contest for the school.  I think I won one of the more challenging B's, but I just could not keep up with a little kid in my class named Arvil Bolick.

Arvil was a shy, small-sized boy with red hair and freckles to match.  He was quiet and unassuming, but boy could he spell.  When challenged, he seemed to grow in both stature and confidence!  I admired him, but knowing how well he could spell, I entered those spelling B's somewhat anxious because I knew Arvil would always get better as the words became more difficult.

I shared this story with my daughter who began asking if I remembered Arvil in high school.  The high school was located in a small town and all of the former elementary students had to be bussed there.  I do not remember him beyond the eighth grade.  My daughter did some quick research on her computer and landed on his obituary.  From that, we learned the following basic information about him:

In 1957 he was living in Maryland

He married and had two sons

He lost one son aged 42

Arvil died at the age of fifty-three

This is not much information, but more than when I began writing about him.  I wish I could have filled in the spaces as I am certain he had the usual phases as we all did during our ages of 20's, 30's and 40's.  Most of us who were born in 1940 married or established a vocation by age eighteen.  It was during those years that we put down roots in a hometown while establishing our children in public schools. Our families were created in our 20's, and we guided our children through their own trying teenage years. 

I had graduated from high school in 1958, so I began my own research into the yearbook to try to find a record of his high school years, but with no luck.  I did not find the name of his wife; and her name was not one of the girls that I was familiar with.  I found no record of her in my yearbook either.  Since he was living in Maryland in 1957, perhaps he dropped out of school and joined the military. Perhaps he married someone there.  It was sad to read that he lost one son, aged forty-two and that he followed him in death at an early age of fifty-three. 

I wish I could have known him as an adult.  I would have asked if he had pursued his love of words and spelling in his given vocation. I wonder, like me, if he enjoyed writing about his experiences and his family.  Somehow, I would like to believe that he did.

This small amount of afternoon research led me to a strange friendship-kinship to a former classmate who unknowingly challenged me to broaden my vocabulary, thus creating a desire to share the written word.  As a child I was probably a little jealous of Arvil and his confidence in correctly combining letters into difficult words.  He was a master with syllables and the sounds. 

 We should all reflect on those encounters in the past which influenced who we are today.  I wonder if there was something I did or said in my childhood or as a teen that made an impact on someone else.  If so, I can only hope that it was something good!  I wish he knew that his confidence inspired my love of writing which continues to this day, and I wish I could have said "thank you."  Instead, I will honor his influence by sharing my brief memory of him through written words, our common childhood talent.