MOYNA'S RAMBLINGS (8)

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT...and day!! But we survived it all. Last night (Wednesday), a storm rolled in. The lightening & thunder were frightening for a few hours, but by 7 this morning, the rain had stopped. Unfortunately, the entire day was dark & gloomy, raining off & on, and we were under a tornado watch. I thought we had made it through with just having a lot of rain, but a little after 2 this afternoon, the local stations went to continuous broadcasting - tornadoes had been spotted & others were beginning to pop-up all over Alabama. Then the news from South Alabama - a tornado had touched down in Enterprise. The high school was ripped apart, and lives were lost. They are still looking through the rubble for more people. Another tornado touched down somewhere in South Alabama, and five more lives were lost...It has been a heavy day of loss...

Around 5, here in Pelham, it's beginning to rain, lightening & thunder. The rain is so heavy, it actually looks foggy outside. Cars are having to pull off to the side of the road because it's just not safe to drive in this rain. A funnel cloud is spotted in the storm that is here. We are lucky - it doesn't come down and remains as a funnel cloud rather than a tornado. By 6:40, the bad weather has passed, moving into Georgia. At 7:00 p.m., the local stations go back to regular broadcasting - just in time to watch the American Idol results show!!

The weather is my biggest reason why I HATE the South. Coming from California, an earthquake hits, is over in 15 or 20 seconds, and you haven't had time to be fearful. Here in the South, they have watches/warnings that go up on the TV screen, and you can watch all day/night, worrying if it will hit you or if you'll be lucky and it will strike elsewhere - this time. Then you wonder how long your "luck" will hold; afterall, it's got to hit you sometime. We've lived in this house 10 years - and we've been hit twice - where our roof - or part of it, has been ripped off. It's a sound you never forget. Fred would like to drug me when the wind comes up because I go into panic mode & my heart races - not good for high blood pressure or for someone who has problems with atrial fib. Today I remained reasonably calm...today, this time.

We all have our problems with the weather. My friend Marsha, who lives in Mi-Wuk Village, California, emailed me a picture today of her home - at least what you could see of it. There was so much snow, you could barely see the house & her husband's truck that was parked outside. Her husband Scott had cleared the driveway the day before, but it snowed that night and he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon!! I hear people have heart attacks while shoveling snow; YES, I GUESS WE ALL HAVE PROBLEMS IN DEALING WITH THE WEATHER!!

The sun will come out tomorrow.