It's been a hell of a month, I tell you. Chaos is the the first word that comes to mind when describing my life in its present state but it may not be the most accurate. I'm totally and completely not bullshitting you when I say that something profound is going on with me internally, and it's causing everything else to shift around this, this, this, new awareness. I have never been more awake in my entire life, and I have never been more aware of my power. That's kinda scary...but it's also wonderful and beautiful and energizing beyond belief.
But that's not what this post is about. This post is dedicated to an old friend of mine Mother Nature. She's been tempermental (no disrespect) these past few months and this post is about her visit to my part of this world.
April 27th, 2011 started out as a normal day for us. There had been storms forecasted for the day but I don't think any of us thought anything of it. We have severe storms around here quite frequently at this time of year. Although the severe weather was still forecasted to occur throughout the rest of the day our normal lives continued; the kids went to school, I went to work and that was that. Part of my job requires me to meet clients at a predetermined location and help them with things. On this particular morning I had to meet a client and take her to work. Since her job was close to a bookstore my plan was to hang out there and not go directly back to work. I was excited about this because I honestly didn't really want to go straight back to work and sit at a desk for hours with no break.
I made it to the client's home with plenty of time to wait. There had been a strong breeze all that morning and I was enjoying it; window down, face into the breeze, eyes closed, breathing in the air. After I savored the wind for a while I opened my eyes. I looked into the westward sky and saw menacing, boiled-oatmeal looking clouds. Dark and full and heavy looking. I had a brief moment of concern because those clouds were coming from the direction of my home and the school that my children attended but I still felt that I had enough time to follow my plan and get back to work before the bottom dropped out of those clouds and the rains came pouring down.
I dropped the client off and went into the bookstore. It was a little slow in the store, unnaturally still even for a bookstore. After about 5 minutes a well-dressed man comes bursting into the store, and while he was not running he was definitely moving. A bookstore employee greets him asking if she could help him with anything. His reply is not a shout, not above conversational tones, but loud nonetheless. He says, "Oh I don't need any help. I'm just here to get away from the tornado". My ears perk up. Silently my brain is screaming, TORNADO, did you say? I become ultra alert. The bookstore worker is apparently feeling the same way because she replies excitedly "Tornado? What? Where?". He says, "Just about 30 miles west, near Athens. The roof of the school has been torn off. It's really really bad."
All at once a few things occur to me. One, I clearly recollect the menacing storm clouds I just saw a few minutes ago. Two, I am terrified to realize that my children's school is very very close to Athens and if those tornadoes are hitting there then my kids' school is in the path of that storm. Three, I am located in the exact place where a tornado hit a few years back and completely destroyed that very building. What the fuck???? As all of those things are popping into my brain I hear the tornado sirens going off. Immediately I look outside. The sun is completely obscured. Complete darkness has settled in and the wind is howling. At this point all I can think of is my children. As I run to my car I'm buffetted by the wind, almost knocked off my feet. I get in and attempt to drive to safety. I'm in my car, watching the road and looking west the whole time. And then I see it. It's a damn funnel cloud. What in the Hell???
(to be continued)
