Yup. Got another one for the annals of the Douglas/ Jarzen quest for sweet slumber.
Many of you already know about what happened when we experienced the Northridge earthquake in '94. (God, I feel like a toothless gramma talking about way back when) Anyways, for those of you less familiar, basically after the really big one hit, Robert and I figured that it couldn't have been that bad, so we unplugged our phone in anticipation of all the calls we expected to get, and concluded that all those concerned about us would see on the news that it was no big deal. And then we promptly went back to bed and slept through all the subsequent after-shocks, our unplugged phone causing no end of consternation to our loved ones who worried about our stupid asses.
Well, today, after a yummy thai lunch and a fruitless quest to find tomato cages at Menard's, we came home, and surprise, surprise, decided it was an excellent time to take a nap. (The kids are at my parents' place for the night) After I put in my earplugs (still haven't gotten used to sleeping without them after all of Max's nighttime noisiness) I registered some sound and looked over at Robert who'd sat up to listen more closely. He looked like the Victrola dog. (I realize that I have dated myself yet again)
On the verge of embracing blessed sleep, I told him it was just trucks across the way doing construction at our neighbor's house. Robert said something, but I ignored him completely, figuring if it was important, he'd tell me after I'd woken up.
About a half hour later, I woke up refreshed when Robert got out of bed. As I pulled out my ear stoppers, the sound started up again, and I realized the air raid sirens were sounding. I turned to Robert, and said, "Holy shit! Those are tornado warnings!!!" He said, "I thought so, but you seemed so sure, I thought you knew what you were talking about."
Allow me to take a moment and say that NEVER in the 16 years that I grew up in Wisconsin were the warning sirens EVER activated in this area. I really never expected to hear them.
Needless to say we high-tailed it down to the basement where I called my parents to make sure that they were okay and that they and the kids were downstairs, where, of course, they were.
We're listening to the news in the background and roofs are being torn off of buildings and they're telling a town about 20 miles north of us to get the hell out of Dodge. Winds are at 80 mph and there have been tornado touch-downs.
Let this stand as a warning. Don't try to get between me and my sleep. I've defied earthquakes and tornadoes, and I'll ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
So glad you guys are ok and of course, that your sleep was not interrupted. Is there flooding in your area?
Lots of love,
erin
Wow. You know, ever since I was little, I have been fascinated by tornadoes. Don't know what it is, I guess I'm a sucker for natural disasters, sorta like that L word. Glad all is well though.
HOLY CRAP! Since I have never lived in a tornado prone area I have to ask, how does the warning system work? Are there really so many sirens that they can alert every household of a disaster? Wierd. You many be able to sleep through natural disasters but how is sleeping through the night next to your gremlin genius of a son going?
Post a Comment