WEATHER ALERTS

Yesterday mid-afternoon storm warnings crawled across the lower part of the telly screen.  Our county was included.  Shortly after that, a loud warning came over our storm alert radio.  Within ten minutes, the local tornado sirens were going off.  That's the game changer, when we head for the underground garage area.  

Over the years, I've condensed our private information to a large 3-ring binder.  If both of us are taken out simultaneously, our heirs will not have to work to find our financial information, all things relative to our estate.  This binder is updated with new information received.  The binder is kept in a fire-proof carrying case, always ready to take with us if we need to shelter in place.  We took the binder with us and headed to the lower level.

Fortunately, we were spared damage at Venny.  The town where we used to live, however, was hit with high winds that took down trees and damaged rooftops.  

Remember back when we were kids on the farm.  None of these alert systems were known to exist, by us anyway.  We relied on the sky.  It was Daddy who showed me the type of clouds that can be destructive.  Naturally, he didn't know their scientific names.  I remember he would watch the clouds and tell us when we should get down to the basement.  One tried-and-true forecast was the spotting of clouds that were a shade of green.  Those clouds always produced hail.  

When I watch some of the horrific tornado cloud videos on the news, it's like a super powerful hand reaches down and slaps out an entire town.  Like all things, summer has its dual personality.  This morning the sun is shining.  This is Mother Nature's pleasant side; yesterday She was upset about something.  Guess we humans disrespect Her.  They say, you can't fool Mother Nature.

We're slowly preparing for the weekend.  In the morning at 7:30, Buffy and her backpack are coming to stay for the 3-day weekend.  Saturday we're having special guests over, so she'll enjoy that.  I'll be honest, we love to show Buffy off and brag about her sweetness and her size and her this and her that.  

One of our all-time favorite things to do in the summer is have friends over for sips and sup.  There was a time when we'd prepare a large buffet of food.  But, now that we're older we've abbreviated those efforts and serve simple foods.  It's the friendship that matters.....not the food served.  It's cherished time spent with those who have made life's journey alongside us.  They have kept us in their lives, and we keep them in ours.  Appetites have changed, as well.  There was a day when we'd pile food on our paper plates and barely be able to carry 'em to the picnic table.  We'd chow down the food and head back for more.  The answer to life, as I've learned, is to adapt to what is.  

Oh, meant to share a little ditty that I read online one day.  A little boy was asked if he knew who Joan of Arc was.  He smartly replied, 'Sure, she was Noah's wife.'