I drove up to Medina yesterday, a bedroom community of Cleveland, for the wonderful Writers Live luncheon sponsored by the Friends of Medina Library and Medina Library. Michael Koryta and I were the guest authors—and we had a sold-out crowd of 220 people. Good food, great people, much fun.
The trip takes about 3 ½ hours, one way. The weather was bad—sprinkles to downpours in the blink of an eye. Isn’t it just exhausting to drive distances in the rain? Or is that just me?
It was still raining on the way home. I hit some traffic outside Columbus, but not too terrible. As I drove through Wilmington, the sky darkened, the clouds thickened, and tendrils of clouds spiraled downward – but didn’t reach the ground.
Certainly not tornado clouds. Right?
I checked the outside temp. 62°. Too cold, right?
There were no major storms—just some intermittent lightning. I was extremely glad to get through the area and get off the highway 20 minutes later. As I flipped radio channels, I heard the emergency broadcast tones. Sure enough a tornado had been sighted along the highway back where those clouds had been.
This is when I play the What If game. What if I’d left the luncheon later than I did? What if I was stuck in that traffic a little longer? What if I’d seen the tornado, what would I have done? Other than freaked totally out?
I don’t know. And I’m glad I didn’t have to find out.
But I’m sure I’ll be having tornado nightmares…
~heather
-
You mean I was almost in a tornado via a cell phone?!?!?!
Glad your talk went well and that you made it home safely.
by laura
on May 9th, 2008 at 6:38 am
-
Oh, the trip sounds so fun! I’m glad you made it home safe and sound.
I’ve always been intrigued by storm chasers and secretly wanted to be one. I think that’s because of Helen Hunt’s character in Twister. I’ll live vicariously through her, I suppose.
I do love to watch a good thunder storm roll in. Especially if I’m near Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA.
by debbie
on May 9th, 2008 at 6:53 am
-
We were chased home to Idaho from St. Louis one year by tornadoes. We’d hear a sighting on the radio and it would be the town we just left. Finally, we were on 70 and there was no one coming the other way. The clouds were getting darker and the warning came on for Brady NE. It was the exit we were coming up to. We decided to pull over at the next exit. The hail started falling as we found the exit and drove into a gas station where several others had stopped to wait out the storm.
All I saw was the rain and hail. That was enough.
by Lynn
on May 9th, 2008 at 7:12 am
-
Heather, I saw that cloud when it went over St. Louis on it’s way to you. It was dark and ominous, right?
-
I’m so glad to know I’m not alone. We had one of those here awhile back; I didn’t find out about it until I got home from walking the dog (a three mile trek) and (naturally) I freak out. “What if we were still outside? What if we’d taken a different route? What if she’d gotten off leash and I had to go find her?”
by Marissa
on May 9th, 2008 at 8:34 am
-
A few years ago, Theo went boating on Lake Superior. If he had done it 30 years earlier, he would’ve gone down with the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Theo still wakes up in a cold sweat thinking about this brush with death.
-
I once saw a tornado forming (or at least, that’s what I *think* I saw) during a drive from Boston to South Carolina. It had been raining, but then the rain seemed to die down, and lightning struck the road–I could actually see it come down around me. As if that wasn’t scary enough, when I looked up, I saw the cloud mass overhead moving in a bizarre, rotational pattern. I’d never seen clouds moving in a circle like that before. All I could think was, “Tornado forming. Get out of here.” I hit the gas and drove away as fast as possible. Later, I heard on the radio that a tornado had been spotted in the area I’d just left. Of course, being the strange personality I am, I found the whole experience strangely exhilarating. But I still wouldn’t go out chasing after them, lol.
-
Laura, I know! Another few minutes on the phone with me and we could have been freaked out together. I wish I’d thought to take a pic of the clouds with my cell…
Deb, fun isn’t a word I’d use! LOL. But tornadoes freak me out. No way would I ever want to chase one, Helen Hunt or not. Maybe because around here they’re actually a reality…
Oh my gosh, Lynn!!! I’d have been in a complete panic!!! We had a tornado warning here at home about two years ago and the lightning and the hail… I was never so scared–especially because I couldn’t track down one of my kids at the time. Sc-ary.
by Heather
on May 9th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
-
Will, LOL. Yep. Dark and ominous.
Marissa, isn’t the What If game baaaad? I need to stop doing it!
Theo, some days are just too easy for you, aren’t they?
Hi Kathryn! I had that same “hit the gas” idea too! Fight or flight, I suppose. Flight sounded really good to me yesterday. Thank goodness there were no state troopers around! Exhilarating???? I can’t agree. But it did get the adrenaline flowing.
by Heather
on May 9th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
-
After we moved here in 2006 every time the test sirens would go off I’d be a basket case. I was glad to start work so I didn’t hear them. 
by Lynn
on May 9th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
-
It’s not just you - driving in the rain is completely exhausting, especially on winding roads when it’s pouring There’s also a very unique irritation that comes from having to keep switching the speed on the windshield wipers as the rain varies its volume. Tornadoes are just plain scary…
by zhadi
on May 10th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
