storms make the best skies

photo taken with my iPhone

“This weather feels ominous,” he remarked.

We were climbing into the car for our weekly lunch together and, to be honest, I was far more concerned with my future burrito than the puffy black clouds rolling across our sky. After all, there was no wind and no rain. And when the tornado sirens began to screech, I even scoffed to myself… just a little.

“That must have been a test of the system.”

As we made our way across town it started to drizzle. By the time we pulled into the parking lot at Moe’s it had turned into a downpour. Make that a sideways downpour. We sat in the car hoping for a reprieve and a chance to make it to the restaurant door without needing a clothes dryer. Caleb studied the weather radar on my phone while I watched the folks in Moe’s pick up their food and move to tables far away from the windows. The lights inside blinked, then went out completely. That was when the wind arrived. It roared across the car and we stared at each other, wide-eyed as we rocked side to side.

“Um, I think we need to get out!”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. Without waiting for a second opinion, I cracked my door, felt it wrenched out of my hand and flung open by the wind. I stumbled from the car and reached to pull Jon out of the back seat. I lifted my head to look over the top of the roof. Big mistake. The sideways downpour sluiced across the car and right into my face. I scooped Jon up and bolted for the Moe’s door. I ran right past it.

“Right here! Right here!” Caleb yelled. He held the door open and we lurched inside, where we stood on the rug and dripped a thousand drips, like we’d taken a brief swim in a pool. With all our clothes on. No big deal. Just as the door swung shut behind us, the wind ceased howling and the rain was suddenly nothing but a drizzle. The storm was over.

“Well, I guess we could have waited ten seconds…”

Oh the irony? Right. But those few minutes of storm downed a lot of trees mere miles from where we were, destroyed homes, ripped up billboards, and caused at least one wreck that I know of.

So, yeah. I’ll be thankful for my sopping boots, my smudged mascara, and my lukewarm burrito eaten in the dark.