Stormy Night

It was a dark and stormy night. I believe I might just write a novel. Hum.... The first line sounds like a novel. Hum....

Well, it was a dark and stormy night. It was STORMY... again. Remember, it is spring and we seem to have to pay for each day of nice weather. The temperature rises and the storms begin.

I'd signed up the other day for Weather Call. It is now provided in our area and for a mere six dollars a year, I can be called when there is severe weather in my immediate area. I wondered about the definition of 'immediate area'. I hoped that didn't mean anywhere in the state. Thankfully, it didn't.

I woke last night to a wild lightning show accompanied by very noisy booms. There was wind, lots of that, and rain... heavy rain. It sounded rather 'severe' to me. Then I heard the jingle of the phone.

I picked up the receiver knowing it would be my Weather Call. At least it had better be my weather call. It was 3:30 a.m. and it was storming.

I knew it would be automated, but felt obligated to say something. I said the obvious 'Hello.'

It was the recorded voice of the chief meteorologist of the television station sponsoring the Weather Call service. He sounded quite perky. He identified himself and let me know that the National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm for my 'immediate area'. The message suggested I remain indoors. Trust me, that wouldn't be a problem! Even if it had been daylight, I would have definitely remained indoors.

My Weather Call ended, and I hung up the phone. I was then curious as to what the radar looked like. I argued with myself for awhile as the nice warm bed felt really nice. Curiosity won out.... I'm a 'visual' and needed to see for myself. I headed toward the living room and turned on the TV for a look. It was festive: lots of colors and swirly circles advancing across the state. I turned the TV off again and padded back to my nice warm bed.

I turned over and was once again thankful that it wasn't worse. I hoped I didn't get any more weather calls for the evening. I'm signed up for tornado information as well. I certainly didn't want to hear about that.

I know I sometimes find humor in strange things. I began to think about trying to make a voice recording to send for storms and tornadoes. It can't be too scary. One couldn't say ' Oh, Gussie, there is a horrid storm coming your way... run for your life!' That wouldn't do at all. The voice really needs to state the facts calmly.

I'm not sure overly perky would do either. 'Oh goodie, we're going to have another one of those storms that meteorologists find so exciting. We hope you enjoy the show! You might want to remain indoors, although we've sent all our people out into the thick of it so they can send pictures back and tell us what they see first hand. If you would like to send your application in to be a storm chaser and get training, you might contact the station in the future. Otherwise, be sure to stay inside away from the doors and windows. Don't forget to stay away from plumbing and phones as well.'

My mind wandered around with thoughts like this for awhile, then I drifted blissfully back to sleep. Unlike all the people who manned the stations with uninterrupted weather monitoring and reporting, I didn't miss much sleep. Had I stayed up and watched, I'm sure I would have noticed the chief meteorologist begin to tire. I've seen the show before and know that continuous reporting begins to wear on the system. Actually, I'm glad they are there and paying attention. I'm also glad they have initiated Weather Call. At some level, I think I feel better knowing that they will ring me at any time day or night to let me know when things seem to be getting out of hand. I also believe they understand the concept of 'immediate area.'