When I lived on a farm in MI, I recall one BADBOY thunderstorm, and the sky went a funky orange...the hairs on my arms stood straight up...and POW lightning hit the pasture right next to my porch.  And the smell....talk about scary...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first Tornado I ever survived was in southern Missouri when I was a Junior in High School back in 1964.  Daddy had moved us there (from New Mexico) a few months' prior to start a "Recreational Farm" on 80 acres in the Ozarks he'd purchased (where visitors could "experience the Farm Life" complete with horseback riding, camping, fishing, and helping with "farm chores.")  When the tiny radio that Daddy liked to carry in his shirt pocket said "Run for cover, Tornado coming!" Daddy pulled open the storm cellar door (for the FIRST time since we'd moved in,) and ordered my two sisters, Mom, and me into the dark recesses of that "shelter."  

 

Spider webs!!!!   I would rather face a Tornado head on, than risk having one of those "creepy crawlies" touching me!   When I hesitated at the top of the steps, frozen in fear of the potential vampiric spiders that were sure to be lurking below in the dark, Daddy grabbed me by shirt collar and belt loops, and tossed me down the steps into the cellar.....  Sisters and Mom followed shortly thereafter, and Daddy came last, closing the door behind him. 

 

In one way, I was glad for the dark (Daddy had the only flashlight, and he wasn't shining it into the back where I was quietly freaking out,) but I was still thinking a bunch of wind could not be worse than what I couldn't see lurking around me in that darkness. 

 

As the Tornado passed over us, the sound was indescribable (yes, sort of like a train, but not really....,) but what I remember most was the temporary inability to BREATHE!!!    Nobody ever mentions that part of a Tornado. 

 

After the Tornado blew past, and it got strangely quiet outside, Daddy struggled to push up the door of the storm cellar (debris had piled upon it).   Our house was still standing, as was the brand new Barn Daddy had had built starting days after we moved in.  The old, dilapidated barn was down (which was a GOOD thing, Daddy had nearly burned out the transmission in his Tractor trying to PULL it down thinking to prevent injuries if it fell down on our heads!)  It took some time to round up the Horses and the cow and her calf after the storm, but they were all uninjured.  Apparently, they'd run to the farthest portion of our property, where the Tornado didn't touch down....   Even the chickens had weathered the Tornado by finding shelter in the new barn. 

 

Grandfather used to say, "Every Experience Offers Instruction.  Up to each individual to extract Knowledge from that Experience!"  

 

I learned that Tornadoes can be very scary (un-related to the terrific winds,) Mom learned that treasures can be stashed in unexpected places (the storm cellar was a cache of canned goods from previous residents,)  and Sisters learned a new way to torment me (teasing me about multi-legged creatures.) 

 

Now, here I am, Decades later, living about 200 miles south of that old farm in Missouri, still in the Ozark Mountains, and still keeping an ear to the radio for Tornado Warnings!   I don't have a storm shelter here at this house, and would probably not get into it anyway (since I'm still afraid of spiders...,) and have weathered a couple of Tornadoes here in Arkansas. 

 

I'd still rather live in an area with the occasional Tornado, than live where the Earth Shakes or Hurricanes level or Blizzards Blast...... 

 

Thanks, Pikes, for inadvertantly leading me down Memory Lane.....