Storms

Last night we had storms move through the north Texas region. We had been under a severe thunderstorm watch until about 5:30pm. Well, when the storms didn't come, I figured that they missed us. Then it happened. About 6:30pm the wind picked up, the rain started falling and then, low and behold, sirens went off! Oh, shoot, I hadn't watched the evening weather report, thinking that we were out of the woods. Well, the siren means find cover, there is a tornado around somewhere. So, I was off to the lowest level of our split level home. But, wait, had to find a current knitting project, a neck warmer out of lovely alpaca yarn, from Jacob's Reward(watch for the pattern) and a baby sweater. The phone rings and it was the local fire department calling to tell us to find shelter, but then the power went out and the message was cut off. Frustrated and more nervous, I was emptying out the closet that we hide in, of some Christmas decorations, when Jeff(UPS guy) came down and said, "Did you get your purse?" Oh, shoot, I had gotten my knitting, what else do I need? So, back up I went and found the purse. Then I hear, "What about your flashlight?" Oh, yeah, well, I had my knitting, didn't I? Finally, as I am descending the stairs, the electricity goes out. OH, no.... I hear, "Do you have the wind up radio?" of course not, I have my knitting, right??????? He says, "I'll get it." I was already on the stairs, thinking, wow, I had my knitting, what else did I forget? AH! My Bible. I love my Bible. So, I grabbed it and back down I went. Ready for whatever happened. There I sat, in the dark, winding the radio, so we could hear it, with my knitting and everything else in the closet. The UPS guy's cell phone rings, and it is the store. Trees were falling and the shopping center sign was being blown out. He and the UPS truck driver were hiding in the back of the store. Wow! This was serious, and I hadn't even watched the weather...... BUT, I had my knitting. :)
The UPS guy's cell phone rings again. It is our son-in-law, great guy, calling to make sure we knew there was a tornado watch. (Yep, and I have my knitting!) The bulk of the storm has passed them and they had no power either.
Eventually, the storm passed us too. We emerged from the house to sit on the front porch. We called both of our daughters, both were fine and their homes were fine. It was dark, so I took my little wind up flash light and .... yes, my knitting, and knitted with the flashlight shining on it. I love this flashlight. I would wind it and I could knit! No batteries to deal with. It came in a package of 3 from Home Depot, by the way.

This morning, we had more storms, no siren though, but lots of lightening and thunder. When it was safe to be outside at the pool, holding a metal pole, I went to rescue it from branches and leaves. I looked up in the sky and this is what I saw. I just had to get the camera and show you our sunrise. The storm had moved east and south and the sun was coming up. A promising day ahead, for all those with serious damage to clean up. Which is what is going on at our store. We are open and doing business, but we, um, don't know where the air conditioner went. Yep. I know one thing, it isn't with my knitting.