Flood Watch
I guess those of you living on the East Coast know that it’s time to start building an ark. I had to go to a Mary Kay meeting tonight and I didn’t think I was going to make it home. I couldn’t see the road at all and when I’d hit deep water the car would pull to the side. Fun times!
The thunder wakes up Erik and then we have even more fun times!
When the weather become turbulent and frightening I always imagine myself as a little Native American girl, maybe ten years old. I’m sitting in a tepee, huddled under a bear skin, enjoying the warmth and protection offered from the raging storm.
This little daydream started when I was just a kid and totally obsessed with historical fiction books. I had a bedroom upstairs in a wood heated house. Cold does not quite begin to describe the frigid conditions of that poor little bedroom. Heaters were expensive to run and not exactly safe, so they were reserved for the coldest of nights. Instead, my mom would pile on the quilts and I’d huddle under them and have Eskimo fantasies. Every time a bit of cold air would find my bare skin I’d see myself as an orphaned Eskimo girl, huddled against a polar bear for warmth. Apparently none of those historical fiction books mentioned that polar bears have a taste for human flesh.
You’d think those fantasies would have led to a love of camping, but my idea of roughing it is being forced to stay at a Motel 6. My dad used to pitch a tent in our backyard every summer and my sister would sleep in it almost every night. I don’t think I ever spent a full night in the tent. Why would anyone want to sleep on the hard ground with the sound of bugs in the background? I was very involved in my church youth group and we had a genuine camp-out one time. Generally our “camps” were in cabins that at least included bunks. Even though I was only 13 at the time of our real camp-out, I knew enough to know I never wanted to do that again. Heck, by age 11 I didn’t take a sleeping bag to camp. I took sheets and blankets. I hate being cooped up in a tube.
Strange how the rain can bring back such memories. I really do wonder how tepee dwellers could survive such torrential downpours. I guess “survive” is a little too strong of a word. The rain won’t kill you, but it certainly makes for some seriously uncomfortable days. As much as I worry about the state of our world and fear for our future, I am so glad I live in a time when I can sleep in a real bed behind thick walls and windows. If the apocalypse happens I’ll be one of the first ones dead. I can’t rough it.
June 27th, 2006 at 4:50 am
We must be in some sort of rain bubble. They’re getting pounded a half hour from here in just about every direction. We’re hazy, but not raining. We’ve got flooding north so I hope it stops soon.
June 27th, 2006 at 5:49 pm
Dang rain.