Duck and Cover Toto

I tuned into The Today Show this morning to find that Al Roker was reporting not far from my house.  He was here because of the tornadoes that blew through our area yesterday.  My family happens to live in one of the towns directly affected.

Just like anyone raised in earthquake prone California might grow accustomed to sometimes shaky ground, when you grow up in Texas, or anywhere within Tornado Alley, you learn to expect tornadoes in the Spring.  Unfortunately, learning to live with something does not necessarily lessen the fearful chill up your spine, the adrenalin rushing through your veins, or the skip of your heart when the sirens sound.  From an early age, children are taught how to duck and cover in schools as tornado drills are practiced just as frequently as fire drills.  Native Texans can tell you exactly what a wall cloud looks like and the difference between a watch and a warning.

Yesterday was a warning that had me watching the skies and waiting, pacing and praying.  By the time I was hiding huddled in the closet, I was close to tears with Buddy the Wonder Dog curled up next to me looking just a bit unsure.

Like the winds that were blowing outside, my mind was swirling with images of my family and thoughts of their safety in their respective locations.  I knew the two youngest would probably be safest right where they were at, but the oldest was at work in Arlington and I just wasn't sure about Bluejay.  I happened to be at home along with Hawkeye John, who kept asking me if I was scared.  Why yes, yes I was.  I suppose perspective and fear differ with age.

While I huddled, Hawkeye John took this photo from our front door.

Thankfully, my family and property made it through unscathed.  We did not take a direct hit as some neighborhoods around us did.  Surveying damage around our area afterward, many were not as fortunate.  A few neighborhoods across from the high school where Owlie had been at the time, were significantly damaged.  By some miracle, the twister missed the high school jumping over it.  By all local reports, there were no deaths to any of those directly affected, only injuries which can be healed and property damage which can be fixed.

We take our lives for granted when we wake each day, expecting this day to be just like every other.  Some of our neighbors woke yesterday inside intact homes, in their cozy beds and feelings of security in check.  Those same folks ended the day sleeping somewhere different then where they originally started, their beds gone and their feeling of security a little skewed and shaken from the days events.  That's what fear does.  It chips away at our souls and makes us doubt what we can be secure in.  Fear is draining, both emotionally and spiritually.

I do not doubt that my prayers were heard.  Not for one minute.  We are here.  We are alive.  We are safe.  That is all that matters.  Thank you God.