Remember when I said I was ready for quiet times? Like I was really over the whole roller coaster ride? Yea well that went out the window last night.

I got home after spending some time at the Temple helping clean up altars and move things around for the Poetry reading tomorrow night. I wasn’t there long as I needed to get home to feed the dog and get her medicated. After she got taken care of I settled in my comfy chair and laptop and began tweeting with people. A lot of catch up since I hadn’t been active much the last few months. Sure enough I heard about the devastation in Alabama.  Then discovered that the same supercell that leveled Tuscaloosa was heading right for us.

We don’t get tornadoes all that often here. I can think of one that touched down in a parking lot since I have moved here in 1993. It was weak and really didn’t cause that much damage. So to hear that this massive tornado is heading right for you and you don’t have them but once every 18 years you tend to panic a bit.

My first concern is my basement stairs. The hallway is narrow. I am 5’9 and 213 lbs. I have maybe 1.5″ on either side of me when I walk down those stairs. And I have to duck my head so I don’t slap it up against the ceiling that is low (we actually put day-glo tape on it so we can’t forget). And I have to carry my 65lb dog down those stairs because she can’t walk due to her injuries in her leg. So waiting until I know for sure that a tornado is in my town is NOT an option. I actually got a space in the basement ready for us and then sat and watched everything unfold. At about 1am we lost power for a bit and my internet went out. That seemed like the most opportune moment to go on down to our safe haven.

On the way down I discovered I could NOT carry the dog down the stairs. It was impossible. Either I would fall with her and kill us both or drop her and hurt her worse. So very slowly I helped her walk down the stairs. She lost her footing once (that cone makes it hard on her and stairs in addition to the leg) and yelped quite loudly. But we made it. I also brought the laptop and was amazed to see I could get back online. I wasn’t plugged in which meant I ended up taking small naps and logging in every once in a while to see what was happening next. My phone had to be turned off because my dumbass left the charger in my office computer.

We were there for 7-8 hours. That’s a long frakking time in a boring basement with limited access to other people. Gave me too much time to think. I worried about the hubs whom was 45 min away, on a farm with a dozen animals, and our children. I worried about possible vermin running around in my basement. As soon as we hit Warning status I had to pee and that had to be done upstairs. I never peed faster in my life than I did in that moment.

Perhaps I over reacted? I have never been in a tornado before. Send me a hurricane, I have been through those and know what to expect and how to handle it. I spent time reading up on Weather.com about tornadoes and still felt insecure about what might happen (especially since the myth that tornadoes sound like freight trains is sometimes not true!). I thought about the videos of devastation that I have seen and wondered if my house would topple on top of us. And most of all, sleeping on mattresses in the basement is really freaking uncomfortable!

Today I am not going to work. I didn’t sleep well at all last night. Instead, I am going to nap today. Take care of the dog and make sure she is really comfy. And prepare for Beltane. It seems like Saturday’s rite is more important at this point. I get the impression that it will be the change in attitude and how things happen. Maybe things will slow down and I will be able to relax.

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