Just Call Me Dorothy

The afternoon of April 2nd started just as any other. While it was a bit over cast and drizzly, we didn't expect any major rain to hit us. Rain tends to just go right over our tiny little town. We've seen so little rain that we've been in a state of drought for several years now.

It was just myself and the dogs that afternoon. I heard thunder off in the distance and the dogs seemed to go into high alert. I let them all in and we settled in to watch television. Every light in the house flickered off, then back on again. I went around shutting down computer equipment and laughed at two of the dogs who were now trying to hide under blankets. "Silly dogs afraid of a tiny thunderstorm?" They just glared at me with the "just you wait and see!" look. I will never ignore that look again.

I sat down on the couch with them and two out of three started trying to crawl under me. When you consider the fact that my butt has the land mass of a small island, you know it's no easy feat to actually crawl under it. It my not be safe for any animal that doesn't wish to be flatter than a pancake. I laughed at their silly antics yet again. They scoffed at my laughter.

Small pieces of hail started to fall. The ice was only about the size of a pea. Dogs covered their ears with one paw, and eyes with the other. Now all three dogs are trying to hide from the storm. "It's just a little ice guys. We've seen hail storms before; quit acting so silly!"

The pea sized hail turned to dimes, then quarters, golf balls and finally, tennis ball size hail! By the time it turned to golf ball sized hail, I was getting a bit concerned myself. Maybe those pups aren't so silly after all. Hail was hitting all sides of the house now. I went into the bedroom and stood frozen in fear as tennis ball pieces of ice were hitting the windows, outer walls and roof of my house.

I must have stood there for a good five minutes like a deer in the headlights. I kept thinking that my house was about to be sucked up any moment, and would wind up landing on a wicked witch in some other dimension. Then a small bit of logic set in and I knew that no matter how far the house was taken, no way we'd wind up in California or either of the Carolinas.

A bit of sense started to drift in and I quickly grabbed the mattress off of my bed. It was just a small bit of sense though because I forgot to take everything off of the mattress first, or to move everything out of the way. By the time I was finished lugging it over to the closet, I made more of a wreck of my bedroom than the storm had done outside the house! I huddled in my closet with the mattress over myself, and three dogs who were hiding behind me, for another 5 minutes. I heard a pane of glass shatter and nearly peed my pants.

I managed to lug the mattress out into the hall way, which if I had a bit more sense before I would have already done, and hide with the three dogs under the mattress. I had no Internet at this point, but that didn't stop me from sending text messages to the family on my tablet. I was taking one last moment, while I could, to tell each of my kids and my husband just how much I love them and that they made life so much better.

It felt as though an eternity had passed from the start of the storm to the finish. In reality, It was only 25 minutes. The storm tore roofs off of barns, houses and buildings, ruined vehicles, broke glass, flooded yards, fields and streets and scared everyone within a one mile stretch.

Yes, that's right. One mile. Such devastation and destruction in a one mile stretch. At first, I thought we were hit by a tornado. There was no mention of a tornado warning, so then thought I was wrong. As it turned out, we had been hit with a small twister. To make things scarier, our field was also struck by lightening later that evening.

I'll tell ya something though. I didn't come out from under that mattress until the dogs did. Now when they act goofy or silly, I look for the best possible exits as well as the safest hiding spots within the home. I'm sure the dogs now laugh more at their silly goofy human than I had at them.