Friday, July 8, 2011

Early Morning Post.

Because my creativity has hit an all time low for the summer and I can't think of a better title for this post.

(Is that sad?  I feel like that's sad...)

It's Friday.  Summer is in full force and I feel it.  It's pretty humid here.  Now, don't judge.  By pretty humid, I mean pretty humid for the arid state of Colorado.  Compared to Missouri (my original home), this is just a normal week. 

But for here, it's sticky and hot.  I'm not a fan.  I do like the thunderstorms we've been getting, though.  So I guess it all evens out.  I just wish the tornado nightmares would stop.  It happens everytime the weather gets severe; nightmares start happening on a nightly basis about my family and loved ones getting caught in tornados.  They are usually horribly frightening dreams. 

Tornados are one of those things that I've always been afraid of.  Even coming from part of tornado alley, where you would think the fear would be crushed out of me.  But no.  There's just so much power involved with tornados, and they're so unpredictable.

I remember growing up in the Midwest.  We would get tornado warnings and watches all the time it seemed.  Each time, you'd grab your stuffed animals, make sure you had shoes on, and head into the basement.  The radio would get turned on, blankets would get pulled out, and we'd wait. 

My parents and sister were (and still are to an extent) more adventureous than I.  They would go out into the backyard (we had a walkout basement) and watch the hail and clouds.  Not me.  I was too scared of what was going on to allow myself to observe.  Instead, I would huddle in my corner of the basement, holding my stuffed Bunny and taking deep breaths.

We were always lucky, though.  The tornados never hit us; they hit either north or south of us.  And I had never seen a real tornado until we moved and were making a trip back from visiting MO.  Colby, Kansas will always give me chills, as will the National Weather Service Alert System.

We've been here in CO almost six years.  In fact, it will be six years as of next month.  And I'm still scared of tornados.  We get them here, but it's different.  The weather patterns are different, the colors are different, and the hiding locations are different.  We no longer have a basement; now we live on a second floor apartment. 

That frightens me.  The fact that all we can do is go into the bathroom and pray.  God has looked out for us so far, but still.  I like the concept of having a strong structure above us.

But everytime, we do ok.  And while the tornados still scare the hell out of me, I'm learning to cope.  Slowly but surely.

I hope you have a great day, dear readers.  Keep an eye on the sky.

~Meaghan

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