Don't say the "T" word...

As everyone already knows, we have had a fairly mild winter. At least we have in this area of the state. It has also been extremely dry. Do you think that could be why the spring like storms showed up in February, a few months early? Yesterday afternoon, after learning of the tornadoes that were plaguing parts of Oklahoma, I mentioned it to Sally (who stopped by with Emily after school) Immediately, Sally got this horrified look on her face, "Mom, don't say the "T" word!" Well, I was puzzled and told her so, then to my chagrin, I heard a little voice from the living room call out "Mimi, what are you talking about? Did you say tornado?" Huh? Emily was busy watching the discovery channel (yes, she likes the discovery channel) and let me tell you the sound was not turned down. Apparently, my oldest granddaughter has a real fear of or even the idea of a tornado. I remember being a kid and feeling rather frightened of tornadoes, especially when the siren would go off, the women and children would huddle in the shelter, and all of the men would stand outside and watch the storm - as if that would keep it away! The first year we lived in Woodward, there was the great "Tornado Reunion" on a spring afternoon. The sky overhead was bright blue but off in the distance you could see no fewer than 6 funnels at a time dipping down from the clouds. Now that was a sobering view! But I digress, so seriously, we have a storm proof basement and Emily knows that and she also knows that we have plenty of time to take shelter. Well, wisely we changed the subject and were on to other important topics of conversation when in walks...

Yes, my darling Emily. She decided she needed to prepare for the storm by gathering up a few necessities. First and foremost - she grabbed her "Becky" (that's the yellow animal thingy that she sleeps with every night and named her self :D), next a pillow (the red small bean baggy one), she loaded up a backpack with toys (it might get boring in the basement), and last, but I'm sure not least, a yard stick (maybe we'll need to measure something?) As she clutched these necessities in her arms she began hitting me with questions (I think she was secretly disgusted that her mother and I were not desperately loading supplies for the inevitable trip down stairs) "Mimi, what will we eat?" "Mimi, what will we eat on?" "Mimi, how will be take a bath?" "Mimi, where will we all live?" - I guess you get the picture. It was kind of pathetic and I really was feeling sorry for her. I hear that I was less than patient in the past when my own children exhibited storm paranoia, that could of course be an exaggeration on their part. After much consoling and persuading, we finally convinced her that there was no immediate danger and that we really did need some rain around this place. If we ever do have a real tornado - we may have to lie to her and tell her it is an earthquake or volcano just to keep her panic under control.

Have a great tornado-free day, everyone :)