Awesomely Scary

In the wee hours of this morning, a storm suddenly unleashed in such magnititude. I'd liken the lightning show to a kid who likes to play with the lightswitch by continuously flicking it on and off, but it was more as if I was in a club and the strobelights were going haywire where before you could even blink, it was already flashing a million miles a minute. It was that intense. Throughout the entire day, the weather channel and our WeatherBug alert had been issuing severe thunderstorms with the possibility of tornadoes. Just the other day, two tornadoes touched down somewhere in Wisconsin...which, by the way, is not too far from us. Sometime around 4am this morning, that familiar rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance. As I watched from my bedroom window, the sky lit up every few seconds illuminating the fields across the road in full. And just as quickly as the lightning started, the rain and wind suddenly picked up. Before I lay back down to bed, I put our blinds up so that I could watch "the show." Within seconds, the rain was pounding against the windows and the roof of our house. Outside all I could see were trees swaying furiously and rain so thick. It eerily served as a perfect backdrop for a chilling horror movie.

With this being our 3rd summer in MN, I can say that these Midwest summer storms are a norm. I remember sitting in our dark living room of our apartment as hubby and I watched the storm unleased its fury. I've seen lightning before, but I've never SEEN lightning before, the line that stretches across the sky lightning. To see such intensity leaves you with that jaw dropping awestruck feeling...y'know, the one where you realize that we are just minute infinitestimal beings on this Earth. I can honestly say that I've never seen these kinds of storms in da Bay, that's for sure!

Perhaps when we were back at the apartment, I took for granted that we lived in a building with an underground garage. Underground garage = tornado shelter. Here at our new home, we unfortunately do not have a basement or underground garage. When we had our walk-thru before moving in, one of my first questions was, "In the event of a tornado, where do we go?" The foreman guy kinda laughed it off saying that a tornado hasn't touched down in these parts for so many years, but when he saw how serious I was, he answered, "the lowest point in the house."

Last night's storm was the first time where I actually felt afraid. First of all, the lightning was just so intense that I swear I could've become blinded by the brightness of it all. Second of all, the thunder was creeping me out because not only was it loud, but it was as if someone was lighting up cherry bombs outside my window. Third and most importantly, in the event of a tornado, where the hell would we go?! Now maybe it's because we don't have the security of a basement or underground shelter and maybe it's because I've watched "Twister" too many times, but as I watched the storm from my window and as the lightning lit up the entire sky, my prayer each and every single time was, "Please don't let there be a tornado, please don't let there be a tornado!" With so much rain, wind, and lightning, I was imagining myself looking out the window and right when the sky lit up, I'd see a funnel touch down and head my direction. Freaky, huh?

In any case, if there were a tornado, our best bet would be to rush to our downstairs bathroom. That would be considered "the lowest point in the house." I was telling hubby later this morning that I was just waiting for the house to shake. If there was any indication of shaking, it would have to mean that it was caused by a tornado...it that was the case, I'd be running without question downstairs! By the way, I was so freaked out being home alone that I made sure our flashlight was hand and that I knew exactly where all my candles were. I was even going to get my shoes for easy access, but I didn't even want to go downstairs- what a scaredy cat! Aiya! Geez...if it isn't worrying about skidding on icy roads into a frozen lake during the winter, it's worrying about summer storms with the possibility of tornadoes...don't my nerves get any rest?