#29 — Tornado
Janie,
The wasp wars continue, I’ve caught a few more in my traps, and also stopped a few mid flight with vinegar in a spray bottle. But they haven’t been around quite as much this past week. There’s been a bigger threat to us both - the wind. And more specifically, tornadoes.
I had prayed that the snow storms would stop.. and they did. So instead, Missouri got 12 tornadoes sweeping across the Eastern side of the state in a matter of hours. Ranging from EF-0 to EF-4. And the damage ranging from messy yards strewn with little sticks and stray cushions from patio furniture… to houses having been lifted off their foundations leaving virtually no chance of survival for those trying to hide in the basement. 12 people died that night. One of these very powerful tornadoes touched down just a couple miles north of our home, leaving some of our church family members without power for days and others with significant damage done to their homes.
The 2025 tornado season has begun.
I experienced some unmatched fear and panic when I had to wake the girls up and take them down two flights of stairs into the corner of a walkout basement with glass windows all around. Knowing full well that if anything substantial were to hit us.. that would probably be the end. After the girls were settled down there, I went outside to take a peek (as all mid westerners *very stupidly* do). I could barely make out the shape of a funnel descending from a lowering base in the sky, just during brief flashes of lightening. Back down to the basement. As wind pounded on the walls and windows, we grabbed the girls nugget couch (which we continually find more and more ways it comes in handy) we threw it over ourselves not knowing if the roaring sound outside was from the funnel I had seen, if this was the end, or if it was just a very strong straight line wind. After awhile, it was over. The girls went back to sleep. The neighbors all poured out onto their driveways chatting about this and previous storms particularly from the past three years. Our neighbor directly across from us, an elderly window, was FRANTICALLY sweeping the piles of hail off her porch
“Just look at all this! I KNEW this was going happen.. honestly!”
Fortunately for her, it all melted by morning.
We all woke up to dusty rusty-orange skies. It was eerie to say the least. Skies that looked like late summer in Montana during to forest fire season. But this was a debris haze. A sky full of particles that have been ripped from peoples homes and property.
For those of us fortunate to have not been directly struck, it was right back to usual grind. Except for a few minor inconveniences like having to wait in line for gas because all but one station in town was closed due to power outages.
Anyway, some good news…
The chickens are getting HUGE. We built them a larger cage and added a perch for them to play on. We’re bonding just fine. They hop into my hand sometimes and fall asleep. I’m really enjoying them and I’m sad to think that soon we’ll have to move them out into the yard.
I signed up for a 5k! I had chatGPT make me a “couch to 5k” plan. I’ll let you now how training goes…
Ginny let me use her friend pass at Cycle Bar and now I’ll taking a cycle class once a week!
I also signed up for a sewing machine basics class at Perennial. One step closer to finally having clothes that fit me properly haha
I haven’t been this excited about upcoming events in a long time. It feels good. The kids have been sleeping better. Warmer days are here. Planning our trip to the U.P. !! Fingers crossed but it feels like the darker days are over for awhile.