“Tornado” may not be a four-letter word, but it is a dirty word in Oklahoma. And it can be a very scary word – especially if two – count them – two enormous, ominous, terrifying tornado infused wall clouds are headed for your home.
It could make you pee your pants – even if you don’t normally need Depends.
This is what happened to me yesterday. Not the peeing pants thing! The two scary tornado clouds bearing down on my town – with my house right in the path.
Now, I’ve lived in Oklahoma for so long and dealt with so many tornado watches and warnings that – normally – I observe the weather reports and the movements of the tornadoes with a passing interest, but certainly not anything close to terror. And, normally, tornadoes seem to move south or north of where I live. So there’s no reason for great concern – at least regarding my own safety.
Not yesterday!
Yesterday – I was surrounded by whirling winds, blowing rain, black and angry clouds, tornado sirens squealing and squealing, my two confused and fidgety kitties, pillows, blankets, and minimum essential possessions (the laptop – definitely!) for hours and hours (at least it seemed like hours and hours) while sitting in the bathroom. (Not for the peeing thing!)
In tornado alley, if you don’t have a fraidy hole (everybody knows what a fraidy hole is – right?) outside or a safe room or center room in your house, then you wait out a tornado in your bathroom. Not so you don’t pee your pants – (although, on second thought, maybe that’s part of the real reason). It’s considered to be one of the safest rooms because it’s small and usually contained between other rooms.
So – there I was – while this craziness was going on around me. I was too busy getting stuff, the two kitties, and me in the bathroom, so I didn’t get pictures. Here are a couple of pictures from one of our TV stations:
Tornado wall cloud
Taken from a farm just north of Hennessey, OK -
The thing is – we were very blessed – one tornado cloud turned southeast before it got to us. And the other one passed over without dropping any of the tornadoes that were in it.
After it was all over – out came that stunning “after the storm” Oklahoma sun – just like it always does after an Oklahoma storm (during the day, that is). I didn’t get pics of that either because I was on the phone talking to family in other parts of the country letting them know that I was okay. But it was a beautiful sight.
I’m glad we survived, I’m glad there was minimal damage, I’m glad we didn’t lose power, and I’m glad that we were only inconvenienced for a few hours. But mostly – I’m glad that I could finally get out of that bathroom and didn’t pee my pants.
Linking lines: http://theonlycin.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/g-t-g-p-a-pressing-problem/
Grandawn - Aging Semi-Gracefully 
Most important is that we don’t pee our pants!
(Found your blog via Lyndatjie and Cindy. All of us are from SA.)
Hi, Madmom – So glad you’re visiting my blog. (And, thanks, Lydatjie and Cindy!) I am loving the fact that I now have blogger friends in South Africa! – You’re right – we have to look at the big picture and what is really important. 🙂
We don’t get them whirly washing machine winds in South Africa and after reading your post – I need to make sure that we never do…. yikes!
PS: I can see why Cindy told me to come and read you – you are hillarious…. 🙂
Hi, lyndatjie, So nice to see you. You do not want these whirly things. No, no! I’m so glad you enjoy the post. And. . . thanks, Cindy!
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What a delightful post…so glad I have found it….if I saw one of those things coming for me I would DEFINITELY pee….however…I have been known to do that from laughing!!
Aren’t ALL our grandchildren perfect?
Hi, granny1947 – Thank you for visiting. Yes – I know about the laughing thing – and I hate that because I laugh all the time. It’s very disturbing, isn’t it?!?
No question about grandchildren. When my first grandchild came into the world, I looked up the word in the dictionary. The definition for grandchild is “perfect.”
Oh my goodness … sorry, but:
bwahahahahahahahaha, I laughed so much I almost had a little pee myself! (Aging really is a drag!)
Glad you survived.
Yes it is! And, I really shouldn’t say this – but, “Thanks for almost peeing.”
Glad to know you were safe and you survived!!!! Okies are a strange bunch…torn between running for cover and safety…..and running for the yard to get a good look and pictures!
Actually, my neighbor and I were standing out in my front yard when the sirens went off the first time. We could see the huge, dark wall cloud. We decided the sirens were a hint that we should go inside. 🙂