Tonight in Dallas, there was a crazy storm. I grew up in Oklahoma City in tornado alley and this seemed like one of the worst storms I have ever been close to. Daddy was traveling for work, so it was just me. I had to hold down the fort. Daddy is the one who usually worries about the weather, watches it all night and is always ready for a disaster. I guess I have witnessed so many storm warnings, I am immune to it. However, I knew when the sirens were going off for more than thirty minutes that this storm wasn't just going away. There was wicked thunder and lightning. You were sleeping through it all and my big debate was, "Do I wake my baby up and take him to our safe place?" The dogs were freaking out, especially Codi. They had come upstairs and would not leave the bed side. Codi was freaking out! Codi seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to predicting storms. Long before the skies darken and the rain falls, our thunderstorm phobic dog, Codi, becomes agitated, fearful, and clingy. Furthermore ,there is nothing on TV because the news has interrupted all the shows. I am texting Daddy a play by play, Uncle Vic has called to check on me and tell me to get to our safe place (the tornado had already swept through Oklahoma City), and Aunt Stephie tells me I better go wake you up. When the weather man says that the tornado has been spotted at Love Field, I knew it was time. We live 5 minutes from Love Field. I did not want to scare you. I did not want you to have bad memories of storms. I was scared of the dark and thunderstorms my whole life and I don't want you to be this way because there is nothing to be scared of. Thunder is God talking. The sound of thunder confirms that there is something much bigger than us up there. Rain is good. If there was no rain, the trees, the grass and the flowers wouldn't grow. We need rain. I always tell you this and when it rains you say, "Mamma now the grass, the trees and the flowers can grow." It's precious.
So, I wake you up and you are annoyed by this. I don't wake you up often. In fact, I can't remembering ever waking you like that. Off the cuff, I say, "It's raining and there is a hole in your ceiling. I don't want you to get wet so let's go down stairs until the rain passes. It will pass soon." Don't know where I came up with that one. You lay your head on my shoulders and you are agigated. So, you, me, Gracie and Codi proceed down the stairs into the tiny bathroom under the stairs. This bathroom is NYC tiny. We call it the oompa loompa bathroom because it is so small and the ceiling is so low. It was not easy to get the dogs in there too. You are getting more annoyed by the minute, "No Mamma. No. Mamma..." The dogs don't want to go into the bathroom. They're freaking. You just want to go back to sleep. We stay in there for about 10 minutes, the sirens stop and I put you back to bed. All was ok! WHEW!!!! The sirens did go on and off for awhile and there were some wicked cracks of thunder, but it all finally subsided three hours later!
I sat and watched the weather for like three straight hours. It was nuts. I never do that, but now I have my baby to protect and life is different. I would do anything to protect my baby.
*Fun Fact: Canines are more sensitive to drops in barometric pressure than humans. Barometric pressure is the pressure of the atmosphere. A drop in pressure means that conditions may be ripe for a storm to develop. A dog may learn to associate this pressure drop with the arrival of a storm.
*Love this quote: Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work. -Mark Twain
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