In Like a Lion

What a week we’ve had here! Talk about March coming in like a lion!

Twice in the last week, tornadoes threatened our area and the last round of storms on Friday proved deadly for many in our state and bordering states.

While the exact same storm cell that spewed such destruction in other areas came straight through our small town, we were lucky in that it did not drop an actual tornado on us. 11 miles north of us, tho, a different storm cell did indeed drop a tornado onto the ground.

We had prepared, since the National Weather Service’s Tornado Condition (TOR:CON) index had us on Level 9 alert when their scale only actually goes up to a Level 8 (!!!). The safest room in our basement was stocked with water, snacks, flashlights, batteries, candles and matches, as well as activities for the kids. While the actual storms tend to blow through rather quickly (usually 2-3 minutes), sometimes the threat lasts for awhile due to other weather conditions.

Look at this thing - this is an actual photo from a tornado spawned in Indiana on Friday from the same storm cell that past straight through our little town an hour later. Yikes for sure! Imagine watching the weather man as this system was headed straight towards you, with tornadoes bouncing up and down out of the sky like yo-yos.

We were very fortunate. The towns that were hit before and after us by that same storm cell were destroyed and people were killed due to this unpredictability. Watching the news casts just established even more just how random Mother Nature’s wrath can be, and how lucky we were to have avoided the worst. The death toll for our state alone is 20 as of now. In total, between our state, and two border states, the death toll is currently at 36. Search and rescue efforts are still underway.

And a video of the same above tornado, for those interested, courtesy of crazy ass storm chasers!

http://www.wlky.com/video/30598461/detail.html

Spring is coming in. It seems like winter so far has been pretty mild here where we are, which is not normal. Daffodils and tulips started popping up late January/early February – the time of the year when we often receive the most snowfall. Trees have been budding. It’s been pretty wild, but I am not necessarily complaining about the warmer temps. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop, tho!

We travel quite a bit, and our ‘traveling season’ is coming upon us. This week we will be headed down towards Charleston, SC to visit with our friend LR. I am so looking forward to her company and what is going to be a purely vanilla visit. We’ve already made plans to run around and do specific things, and I am so ready to get a glimpse of some true spring weather to get in the mood for what will be coming next month – the Boardwalk Badness Weekend in Atlantic City!

I’ve also taken on more days and hours at work, so that has kept me away from the computer pretty much. I do check in on my phone sometimes during the day, but rarely have the time to actually write or respond to anything I see online! On the days I have downtime, you will find a fairly heavy presence that day or afternoon on blogs and on Fetlife. That’s when I get to catch up! And by the looks of things, life is only going to pick up!

I think it is good to stay busy, tho. Creating memories and experiencing life to its fullest.

Until next week, friends…….