Healing With Helping Hands

It's been a weird weather year in Oklahoma. We had chilly weather on and off for all of April. Between the chilly days, we had summer. Some nights we would use the heater and have to turn the air conditioner on by morning. I've lived here all my life, and it never fails to amaze me how the weather can turn in the twinkling of an eye. Much of May we had wearable weather. The humidity was so heavy it felt like you were wearing a mink coat soaked in hot water. May 20th, we had threat of severe weather and you could feel it in the air. Around 1:30 after lunch, several co-workers gathered on the sidewalk out front to watch the clouds coming our way. Yes, it's true, in Oklahoma when we are in a tornado watch, that's exactly what we do.... We go out and watch. Not far in the distance you could see the clouds swirling, occasionally making a funnel that would then be quickly sucked back into the clouds. I watched for a while, but decided to take my mind off all the commotion by doing some work. Tried as I may, the commotion could not be blocked, as

the mood was like an electrical current running through the building. The weather didn't affect my mood, but the excitement coupled with high pitched squeals and constant chatter sat my nerves on edge. With the forecast, I thought to myself "This is going to be a long spring." Back at my desk, my daughter called. She was locked inside JcPenney's. The store wouldn't let anyone leave until the threat had passed. As we were talking the electricity went at work ramping the mood up another notch. Thankfully, they sent us home where everyone uses their inside voices (peace and quiet does this body good). When I got home, my husband was out in the yard and we sat on the porch as the clouds swirled around us. Our electricity was out also so we had sandwiches for dinner (no cooking!!!) The electricity came back on around 8. We flipped on the TV to see what the weather was doing. Sadness wrapped our hearts. Moore Oklahoma had been devastated by a tornado that at times was 2 miles wide. It wiped out neighborhoods

as well at two elementary schools. 14 years earlier a tornado had taken almost exactly the same path. The debris flying through the air literally defoliated the bark from trees, grass from overpasses and left nothing but slab foundations where house after house had stood. But this time, the tornado had hit during the day, while the schools were still filled with children. I called both of my kids who live in the city to make sure they were safe. My brother lives in the Moore area and works for OU. I sent him a text to see if he was okay, but he never responded. Later my son texted me back to tell me his Uncle was okay, but headed to Moore with a crew and heavy equipment. The next day I learned his crew had helped locate the children who had not survived the storm. I could feel the heaviness in his voice. It was
a sad week for Oklahomans. Summer finally arrived in June with hot, but not unbearably hot days. July was a pleasant surprise with summer weather mixed with rain which we hadn't seen in about 3 years and usually never in July. August has started out the same... Hot, heavy and a surprise rain or two so far. Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed for a long beautiful fall. People are still putting their lives back together from the spring storms, but the good thing about Oklahoma is there are always helping hand close by to help with the healing.

The Eye of the Storm

My daughter called me last night in a frantic mess. She was stuck in traffic in a terrible storm with reported tornadoes. The hardest thing as a mother is to know your child is in danger and know you simply can't get to them... I've felt that way a lot in the 7 years she has been in the Navy. While I worked at calming her down, her dad was looking at the radar trying to pinpoint exactly where she was in relation to the reported tornado. She called me back when she made it home safely... Whew! When we went to bed my husband took

one last look at Facebook and saw a picture of our son and his fiance huddled together in the tub... He had a grin the size of Texas, she looked terrified. If the picture had been taken a year ago, he would have been out chasing the storms, trying to get a good look at what was going on. That's what love does for you, it changes your perspective and makes you aware of emotions that aren't necessarily your own. So, while my neighbors, family and friends spent the night huddled in their bathtubs and around their television sets watching the good ole Oklahoma weather which can rip you a new one in a New York second, I slept like a baby after a warm bath. I drifted off to the sound of hail pelting the windows, wind whipping the trees and with the knowledge there was a good chance the basement was flooding. It's not because I have a brave heart, nor is my faith so great as to have no fear, but rather I've brushed up against death and know that you can be in the eye of the storm and not know it because danger is lurking around every corner and often is hidden in plain sight. Every second of life has the potential to be just as dangerous as the next,regardless of how it looks. Life is too short to live it fussing and fretting, stewing and stowing things you can't change. Trust me on this, you are just as protected when things look really bad, as you are when you feel all safe, warm and cozy. Storm or no storm, it's all in His control. Knowing it's all the same has helped me worry less and sleep more. Ahh, even the darkest of clouds have a shadow of a silver lining.

We Have it All, Shake, Rattle & Roll

This weekend Oklahoma wasn't notorious for it's wind... Well, no more than usual. We didn't set any record breaking lows, because we did that in the beginning of the year (-31 in Nowata). We didn't break our scorching heat of this summer (115). No, this weekend was relatively mild and uneventful except for the earthquakes (yes that would be multiple). The largest of which was 5.6 which shook us up and rattled our

cages. There's just never a dull moment around these plains. My initial thought was it was just the Sooner fans jaws dropping as they realized the Cowboys had just moved to the #2 spot in football while they remained #6. Then I realized that part of it was probably due the the magnitude of the angels doing the happy dance for the underdog. Whatever the cause, it rocked our house, rattled our mirrors and made me feel all funny inside. I chalked it up to another experience checked off my bucket list. Yesterday things were back to normal, tornadoes, flooding, that kind of thing. We had an aftershock last night (I guess that's what it was), but I didn't worry enough to get out of bed to find out how big it was. Like everything else in Oklahoma.... After a while it just gets boring. My brother posted on Facebook, all we needed now was a hurricane and  volcano and we'd pretty much have all of the bases covered. If you feel like you're missing something, just move to Oklahoma where you can have it all.