Shelter

I have been an Okie all my life and spent a good amount of spring afternoons and evenings with one on the weather coverage and one on my fraidy hole of choice. I think I've actually taken cover a total of 4-5 times in my years. However, with the recent horrific images of Alabama and Missouri and our local meterologists acting like Harold Camping, I have to admit, I got a little nervous during this last round. As we saw the tornados roaring down I-44, we packed up the kids and the dog plus my camera (shows you what's important to me!) and drove to our other home, ORU. It seems like it would be sturdier than our little closet underneath the stairwell.

In the picture below, the storm's arolling in....

Rain has started; kids are enjoying the view.

And the big concrete walkway that goes in a circle? A little boy's dream.

Here comes it's full fury. Look closely and you will see a poor soul waiting the storm out at the bus stop.

Rain's coming down in fierce blasts, but thank God, no tornado.

Gosh, we should come here for entertainment every night!

The clearing has begun. Prayers of thankfulness said, and prayers for those who are hurting in Alabama and Missouri.

Well, at Least the Rain is Good For Something....

Don't get me wrong; I love rainy days. In fact, I think I enjoy them more than most people. As long as I can remember, I never, ever tried to wish the rain away. It is the soft rain (or loud thunderstorm) that makes me want to cozy up in my house with my family and enjoy. I remember one time when I was teaching high school, it rained for something like 21 days in a row. Didn't bother me. Everyone was whining about the lack of sun, but I cherished each and every gray day we had. Well, I don't know the exact number, but it seems like nearly every day in June has been rainy. And lots of rain. And thinking back way in April and May, it was pretty rainy then too. It's like we're living in Seattle without living in Seattle. So, I'm pretty happy, right? After all, I love this H2O from heaven!!! There is a small difference now, and it's called a son. Poor Luke is climbing the walls. He's breaking the dishes. He's going stir crazy. He's beating down the doors. He's pulling out all the stops. He's going nuts, and getting into all kinds of trouble. And I feel sorry for him. A similar thing happened during the ice storm back in January. Because he wasn't able to "get his energy out" as we say, it came out in other ways, in not nice ways. So when I found Luke standing outside, mouth open like a hungry bird, trying to catch the rain rolling off the roof, I didn't stop him. I let him get drenched. Soaked. He stood out there and laughed hysterically in between big mouth fulls of rainwater. It wasn't a permanent fix, (Tom later came home and spent 5 hours with him, biking, playing, gaming,) but it was a moment to enjoy.

Singing in the Rain...

A Boy and His Boots

The Duke got this idea in his head that he was going to go outside in the rain (it had stopped raining) and that he needed to get prepared for his adventure. So he went upstairs and pulled his rain boots off his door with a big THUD. Then, he found his "rain coat" really a size 2 vest, and grabbed Elle's rainbow umbrella. What followed was a whole hour of running and splashing through puddles. Jumping up and down in them... all to his heart's delight. Oh, the simple pleasures of childhood.