ROUGH WEATHER

For some strange reason, we’ve lived in two “rough weather” territories.

Dayton, Ohio, our home for 40 years, is right smack-dab in the middle of Tornado Alley.  The tornado sirens were so common we frequently ignored them.  The only really, really bad tornado in my memory is the Xenia tornado of April 3, 1974. It was said to be an F6 tornado. That’s as bad as it gets.

Now, we live in South Carolina, known for its propensity for hurricanes. We’ve lived here for 25 years so we know the routine.  The warnings for a potential hurricane start about two weeks before anyone knows the strength, size, point of landfall, etc.  We grocery shop, get money from the bank, think about where we’ll go if we need to leave, bring in lawn furniture, etc. The preparation list goes on.  And so far, except for Matthew, we’ve escaped anything massive.

But NOW!!!!  Now we have a new word...or words...to add to our “rough weather” vocabulary.  “Bomb-Cyclone.”   Whoever came up with those word(s) was not in a good mood at the time.  Those are two bad words. Put them together and they get even worse. And they’re in our faces right this minute..

We’ve been alerted, for several days now, that a Bomb-Cyclone is coming our way. It’s happening tonight, in fact!  Extreme cold!  Ice and and snow!  Hurricane-force winds! Stay inside!  Don’t go out, whatever you do!

Well, we don’t like any of that.  At all. Truth be told, I don’t think this particular Bomb-Cyclone is going to be all it’s cracked to be.  At least for us. We’re at the very southern edge of its projected path.

But I can tell you one thing for sure. We’re not going anywhere!  We’re staying put! One can never be too careful! If we’ve learned anything about “rough and frightful weather” it’s that.