Over the weekend, we had some pretty alarming weather here in the Midwest. In many areas, it didn’t get nearly as scary as it was predicted—but it certainly did in some towns across the area. Some people criticized the weather folks, saying they went too far with their warnings of complete catastrophe; indeed, it did feel as if we were about to experience The Day After Tomorrow. I must admit that I panicked—something that I normally do not do, but when you have a kid, like they say, everything changes.
I am glad that I have this warning system in place, though, and I feel terribly spoiled by The Weather Channel and the Channel 5 Doppler radar. Can you imagine how it must have been a couple hundred years ago with nothing but “feeling it in your bones” and a few common tools like weathervanes to help you ascertain the weather, sometimes mere moments before—or even as—it was happening? I can’t even imagine. Like I said, I used to love storms, but when you have little ones to protect, it means the world to you.
Of course, I am betting that many people made sure they had storm cellars for such things, too, which surely helped; my family has a pretty nasty old basement that we avoid at all costs due to its high spider, cat litter, and general muck content. That said, we do use it in a pinch—and if we receive such advanced warning as we did over the weekend, we make the forty minute trip to my mom’s house, where a clean basement (indeed, one that we once occupied as residents!) awaits us along with plenty of batteries, games, and comfortable furniture.
My husband says that I’m gullible for letting such warnings work me into a frenzy; we have always joked and made fun of the media and its catastrophic warnings, seeing many as they are—ploys for selling stuff. And I realize that. But I am in charge of another human being’s life and general wellbeing (at least for now), and I am determined to make sure I do a damned good job of that. And if that means waiting out a storm that doesn’t really happen at my mom’s house for a day and a night, well, so be it.
And I will keep thanking The Weather Channel for helping me do just that!