12 May 2008

the perks of being Little Man's driver...

i had the best of intentions to spend yesterday in boyworld celebrating mother's day with a jaunt into the city & return home to do a post with a shout-out to D.'s wonderful momma & my birth momma, J. but you know how it goes with the best-laid plans! we did make it into the city after Big Bro was through at work. we did have a grand time being silly together. but one of us got his best-day-ever wish...& one of us ended the evening hiding in our windowless hallway in fear! let me explain...
while enjoying a cold coffee-type drink in the brilliant sunshine, i noticed a cloud formation behind the boys that spoke to Little Man's meteorological heart.that was enough to put us on the move toward home with hopes of tracking some storms. en route shortly thereafter, the horizon was filled with an ominous, dark sky. we pulled into a store for an item needed for that night's dinner (ice cream...hey, it was mother's day!). boyworld made a run for the store, but i had the camera poised. the lightening was quite amazing a few miles from us & i decided to try for that elusive lightening bolt shot. well, i got it!& a whole lot more than i bargained for. i realized that while i was totally focused on bolts, the clouds had taken on a formation known as a shelf cloud, the type that proceeds tornadic activity. please understand, i have never had, nor will i likely ever have, a desire to be one of those storm chaser types. i am more like a storm run-away-from-er! & you might ask just how i knew about this cloud formation & could so aptly spot it...well, Little Man & i just completed 2 National Weather Service classes on things like this. he is an official weather spotter for our county & technically, so am i, but alas i am too wimpy-afraid to really desire to do it...but i am his official driver & i did indeed spot it! at that moment, while furiously clicking away with my camerai made a bolt for the store & dialed Little Man's cell with my free hand. he was at the door just in time to see the whole thing. we never saw the tornado on the ground but he did fulfill his official spotter duties with a call to the NWS to report the cloud formation. (this morning we did confirm a tornado touchdown just a short distance from us at that very time through the NWS website...mild damage & no injuries, thank God!) a short while later the storm clouds had passed & we were on our way home, again in brilliant sunshine.
but that was not to last...no, another ominous cloud formation was trailing us home!& last evening we ran the gambit of wild weather...supercell cloudstornadoes skirting our area, hail, & a total of 3 NWS reports filed by Little Man! what did i do? well, i spent a good chunk of the dangerous times hiding in the hallway on the cell phone with J. & praying furiously...taking an occasional jaunt to the window for a photo op all for the blog!we were very fortunate in our home & our area...minor damage, no lives lost. but much of the country did not fare so well. please keep the many mother's day tornado victims in your prayers. & to my brood of children who frequently take me out of my comfort zone: thank you!!!...but please leave me in peace with my ice cream tonight! ;-) & to all you mother's out there...a belated happy mother's day from piacere!

11 comments:

erin said...

wow...that tornado cloud is crazy! I'd be so scared!!

SabineM said...

wow amazing! Glad everyone is ok!
WE should use of your sky photo and make a sidebyside....weather! ;-)
So glad you are ok! That looks scary! I would not have been able to help myself from snapping away photos!

Anonymous said...

Dear Friend,
Happy Belated Mother's Day! I just know deep down you are a fantastic and wonderful Mom because you are a good friend to me.

So Very grateful the weather behaved for you! While at my mom's in Tx. she , Coco (the cat) and I had a Tornado warning. We had to camp out in the bathroom for 45 mins and took away all the glass.
(She and I have only done one other time before in our lives and not with each other). Obviously we made it, BUT just to say....I get how weird it can feel.

THANK YOU for your prayers. My mom
's serotonin level is back to normal, which means the cancer is NOT growing. What we all need is to feel as great as we can until our last breath.

It touches me and actually blows me away, that you were inspired by Rochambeau to start Piacere!!!
xox
Constance

Anonymous said...

I think I'm missing out on the action with your other blogs... I need to go check those out!

Storms scare me, too - especially night time ones when you can't SEE the clouds! I really need a weather radio.

Cool pics, by the way...

the mother of this lot said...

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!

maryt/theteach said...

Such beautiful skies! :D

Karen Cole said...

Incredible photos!!!

Happy belated Mother's day.....for many reasons.

Unknown said...

Hey D. . this was a riveting story and I just love that hand photo. wow. thanks for sharing--you inspire me to be a mom. and italy!! keep up the writing--sounds like good lessons!

Karina said...

Well I sure am glad you made it through that storm safe. Great photos for sure though!

Anonymous said...

Wow. Amazing pictures. Glad everyone was ok.

qualcosa di bello said...

erin...it sure was!!! & i was terrified

sabine...this is one photo theme i would rather skip ;)

constance...thank you so much!! you are a good & beautiful friend...you & your momma are special, positive women who make the world a more joyful place.

jennifer...funny you should mention night storms...just had another supercell come through with hail...this time at night! not my favorite thing...

jackie...thank you!!! even though it was not the british mother's day, i send you good wishes too!

teach...yes, even though it is scary, there is so much beauty in it too

karen...thank you & the same to you too!!!!

andrea...my children (& my husband too) are the very best things that ever happened to me! even on the hard days (& there will be some) it is all worth it. i am honored that you are inspired...& you will be a terrific momma!!

karina...i have to say that the photos were worth the anxiety i had to endure!

maryann...me too!!!!