It was supposed to storm today.
I've been watching the weather all week, and while the worst is supposed to come tomorrow, we were "promised" a rainy day today. It rained enough this morning to cancel the ball games, but other than that it's just been cloudy, windy and gray. I had worried myself for several days, trying to find time to plant my garden before the rains came. Yesterday I worked in it for several hours and I have the sunburn to prove it. I got almost all the bedding plants in, but waited to plant the seeds. Seeds could be washed away if it does rain as much as promised.
I shouldn't complain. Tornadoes hit hard in Arkansas, and much of the area I grew up in is flooded tonight. West Tennessee got over 12 inches of rain. Parts of the interstate are closed, and a good part of Millington, TN is under water. At last report, five people have drown in the flood waters. I shouldn't complain. But I do love a good storm.
I think my love of storms came from my childhood. I spent many a night huddled in the hall while the tornado sirens wailed and daddy stood on the porch watching. But other times he would take us out into the weather, driving around to see what we could see. Once, when a severe tornado devastated Jonesboro, Ark., we drove over to see the damage. Mom took movies as we drove down street after street looking at the damage. This wasn't just a random trip to see the misery of others; my grandparents lived just outside of the city.
My husband grew up in northwest Pennsylvania. Tornadoes do hit in Pennsylvania, but not with as much regularity as in the southland. His childhood was not spent with the regular ritual of huddling in the hall while the sirens blew, thus he does not share my fondness of a good storm. He will not be the one jumping in the car to see if we can find the funnel cloud - but he will watch the blow-by-blow weather reports as the local stations monitor the weather. He will be quick with the comic remarks, and is fun to ride with while trying to get away from a storm (we have several funny stories about storms and the double wide trailer - but they won't be told tonight). But the truth be told, he is the one with good sense when it comes to storms, and every family ought to have someone with good sense.
So today it was supposed to storm....
The storms will come. We are forecast to have severe storms tomorrow, and could see rainfall amounts up to 10 inches. The creeks will rise, and I will drive around to see them as they rush furiously under the bridges. I will wonder just how many times the creeks can rage like that before the supports are damaged, and my life will follow a pattern that began in childhood. And my children, who have learned from me, will stand on the porch and watch the storm as it rages on its way......
