Holy sheep shanks. How the heck do I follow a cowboy contest like that? No matter what I blog about today, it’s bound to be a letdown. Guess I’ll have to try my best.
Today I’m going to blog about the wild, wild west and the weather.
For those of you who live in the Southwest, can you imagine what it was like to live in the BAC ages? (That’s before air conditioning.)
I’m thinking about the weather because it’s springtime in Texas, so a girl’s thoughts naturally turn to…tornados. (That’s not what you expected me to say, is it?)
We had tornados in town a couple days ago. The sirens went off. The dh took me and the dog to the bathroom beneath the stairs. The hail pounded. No freight train this time. Thank goodness.
I’ve lived through two tornados in my life. The first one was the big Wichita Falls tornado in 1979 that killed over 50 people. Half a block down from my house, everything was leveled. I’d lived there all my life and not a single landmark remained–I honestly didn’t know where I was when I drove down the street. The second tornado hit downtown Ft. Worth a few years ago. Technology was more advanced. The TV announcer said what time the tornado was hitting each part of the city.
I grabbed my kids–I had little ones then–and went to an interior closet. We were prepared–until lightning struck the house and the fire alarm went off. On the radio, the guy was saying the tornado was headed right for me. Above me, I could hear crackling and I smelled smoke. My decision was…do I stay in the closet and burn up or head outside and blow away?
Not the easiest decision I’d ever made. We went to the coat closet beside the front door. The tornado took off roofs at the end of my block, but missed us. The fire was contained in the attic. Exciting times.
I can’t help but wonder how people in Tornado Alley dealt with storms back before doplar radar and weather radio. It scares me to death when I know what’s going on. Imagine what it must have been like to see or hear a tornado come roaring down the prairie. It gives me the shivers just to think about. (Speaking of shivers….)
I’ve used tornados in books a number of times. The H&H in my third book, TEMPTING MORALITY, had to deal with a tornado. My May title, THE LONER, has a nifty tornado scene. Like they say…write what you know.
A good blogger would include the photo of a real wicked tornado right here to illustrate the point. But since I’m following that cowboy contest…
There are torndos…but then there’s Mother Nature…. 
Wow, Geralyn, what a great post. I can FEEL your fear, smell the smoke, yikes.
We have tornadoes in Nebraska but I’ve never seen one. I’ve seen the damage though.
There was a terrible tornado that went through downtown Omaha probably 33-35? years ago. I was a college student then and I was at my older sister’s apartment in Omaha shortly after that tornado and the sirens went off. I think the town was just on RED ALERT like crazy for a few years after that.
My sister’s apartment was a basement and I went out her door for some reason (she wasn’t home) and the hallway was FULL of people…I particularly noticed one woman with half her hair white adn the other half black. Very odd looking character.
Well, I’m a country girl. What do I know? I invited them all into my sister’s apartment.
Then my sister got home and all these very strange people were there. The siren’s went off. Everyone left and my sister had a TALK with me about opening the door to strangers.
Hey, I was a Good Samaritan, c’mon!!!!!!
Good morning, Geralyn – Wow, you’ve been through scary times with those tornadoes. I got chills reading your blog today. I’ve lived through 3 earthquakes in our area. I can’t compare, I think all of nature’s woes are frightening. They make a person realize how truly vulnerable we are in the big world. The pics were great! Now, those are some really nice acts of Mother Nature.
My gosh, Geralyn. Talk about scary. When I see tornadoes on TV I try to imagine how terrifying it would be and where I would go with my kitties. Living at the foot of a mountain range seems to protect us from tornadoes here in SLC–we do get a few very small ones but it’s a freak incident when it happens. The only serious danger is from the big earthquake experts say is going to happen one of these days…
My current WIP is set at the time of the 1906 San Francisco quake. Just unbelievable the things that happened.
wow Geralyn…those tornado stories are scarey! I have never been through one..I have always lived in the southeast and we do get them sometimes here too, but not a bunch!
and..on a side note…I am sooooooo excited about THE LONER…. can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Hi Geralyn, boy, did you awaken some memories! I was in that 1979 tornado here in Wichita Falls too. My children were very small (the youngest just 6 mos old) and my husband and I laid them down with us on top in the hallway. Yep, the freight train came roaring right through my house. When we crawled out from under all the debris it was exactly like you said. For as far as the eye could see in any direction there was nothing but devastation. Looked like a nuclear bomb went off. We were lucky though and escaped with only a few scratches. Lots of others weren’t so lucky. For at least a year afterward, my kids wouldn’t take off their clothes or shoes when they went to bed. They wanted to be ready to run. And everytime the wind blew we went into a panic.
I still dream of tornadoes. It’s a hard thing to shake, those memories. Strange that two of us Fillies share the same experience.
I can’t imagine what the pioneers did when tornadoes came. They had no warning at all. I’m sure a bunch lost their lives. That’s sad.
Keep your head down and your senses alert, Geralyn. Spring is a bad time here in Tornado Alley. Take care.
Got so wrapped up in re-living my experience that I forgot to say – “Congratulations on the release of The Loner!” I’m so thrilled for you. And I thrilled for all your fans who’ll get a chance to read another great western romance. I know it’ll be fantastic!
I went to college in Nebraska and remember hunkering in the dorm basement during a tornado watch. Soooooooo scary. My friends kept asking how I could stand living in California with the earthquakes and I told ‘em, I’d take that over tornadoes. But now to the matter at hand: yowza. Your photos rock.
OMG, Geralyn…my heart was pounding reading about that experience! Glad everyone was okay
California isn’t known for it’s tornados–we get the earthquake/mud-slide notoriety *g*), but we actually live in CA’s tornado alley–we’ve had a few come through our ranch–demolishing barns, though nothing so massive as tornados in the midwest. It has to be something about our placement in the central valley. We frequently see funnel clouds in the spring. I happen to LOVE extreme weather *lol*. Though not the “pick your house up and drop it in the next county” kind of extereme *ggg*. As a kid, when big lightenign storms would come through my mom would pop popcorn and we’d sit at the slider, oohing and aaahing like it was a firework show *g*.
THANKS for the yummy pics!!!
Here in Houston, we do get tornadoes, but not as
seriously as in the Alley! With us, it’s more
likely to be hurricanes with aftermaths such as
the horrific flooding with Allison. Most of the
family was safe. It was our daughter and her son
who had to be rescued from their house by firemen
in a boat. Then it took a day to locate them and
find a way to get to them and bring them home!
Pat Cochran
I am so glad I live in a part of the country without tornadoes! They would scare me to death.
Echoing what Estella said! Yikes, Geralyn!! So glad you’re safe, and I’m not sure what I would do in a tornado! Panic!
Great photos