The Storms, They Are A'Brewin'

I love a good thunderstorm, perhaps because I've lived in Oklahoma since 1979. Storms are just a part of life here in Tornado Alley. But what I don't like, is that the really big storms seem to always come in the middle of the night. I know it's simply the science of how weather works, but it's still annoying.

Last night, the weather radio went off what seemed to be every few minutes all night long. ALL NIGHT LONG. Finally about 1:30 a.m., we got up because Ashley (formerly known here as Joy), woke up frightened from hearing the tornado sirens. I'm thankful she heard them, despite her fear, because we couldn't hear them and we were awake.

We all settled in our bedroom to watch the weather coverage on our local news channels and pretty soon there was a knock on the door. Our next door neighbor and her three little boys weren't sure if they should go into the storm shelter (it's in our front yard), so we invited them in and Brad explained the weather coverage so she wouldn't worry. Her husband works nights and had called to warn her that they should get out of the house and go to the storm shelter. Thankfully, that wasn't necessary and after about 15 minutes it was clear the storm was going well to our north. I helped her tote her 3 week old son in his carrier while she carried the 2 year old who had lost his shoe. The shoe was discovered by the oldest boy in our front yard on our way back to their house.

After helping her back home, it was back to bed for all of us, but the weather radio went off a few more times before finally quieting down for the night. Brad was up within a few hours of laying back down (he had sent out an email at 5-something this morning). Who knows, maybe he never made it back to sleep before getting back up for the day. The poor guy has to be absolutely exhausted.

We are due for more storms this afternoon but thankfully nothing past the evening. I'm looking forward to an entire night's sleep.