My experience with natural disasters only involves tornados and earthquakes (not the one from earlier this week). I’ve not been in a hurricane and am feeling a bit uneasy about kill joy Irene. I should also add that Colin McEnroe’s show on Wednesday on NPR has only escalated those feelings. I don’t know what exactly to expect but I’m hoping it’s nothing like the tornado I experienced decades ago. Let me tell you about it.
When I was five years old I lived in North Dakota and I can recall a few encounters with tornados (and moose stampedes but that’s a different post). On one particular occasion I was playing at my friend Donald’s house when the sirens blasted through the air force base signifying a tornado warning. I figured I would go down into the basement at Donald’s house and wait out the storm with his family. However, my mother had other plans. She called Donald’s mom and told her to send me home and Donald’s foolish mom complied. She opened her front door to guide me outside away from the safety of sturdy shelter and into the wildness of a natural disaster. I thought Donald’s mom was going to escort me home but, once again, I was wrong. She simply gave me a pitiful look and pointed her finger towards my house. As I turned away from my playmate and his careless mother, I looked towards a scene that reminded me of The Wizard of Oz (had the tornado part been in color). The sky was crazy shades of pink, gray and green. Papers and debris were swirling all around me. I had to shelter my face with my arms as I treaded against the wind. Turning back was not an option. As frightened as I was by the thought of being swept up by a tornado, I was more frightened about disobeying my mother. I don’t remember how many steps my short legs took during that storm but it felt like an eternity. Still, I was determined to make it home. At least Dorothy had friends and Toto to accompany her; I had to make my journey completely alone…and I was five! I never let my mom forget the scars left behind from this incident. Of course she doesn’t think it was that big of a deal and I’m sure she tells the story differently. But I was altered that day; I had aged far beyond my five years. I also blame that incident as the source of my determinedness, stubbornness, and superhero alter-ego.
So, Irene, please just lay low, this year has aged me quite a bit already and I’m just not in the mood for anymore self-actualization right now.
