Stormy Weather

Do you remember last summer when I shared with you about how Oscar, by far the neediest mammal I know, is so violently disturbed by thunderstorms that he withers into a tiny pile of whiny white fur?  At that time, I was testing out our new Thundershirt to see if it truly would alleviate his storm anxiety. 


It didn't.

At even the quietest grumble of thunder, the mutt is circling under my feet and ironically enough, forcing me to trip over him and hurdle to the floor in a loud thud that begins a whole new whimper-cower-shake cycle.  So when the mother of all thunderstorms rolled into our town last weekend, I was shocked to see that Oscar wasn't the most anxious body in the house.

About an hour before the storm hit, I began to get phone calls and picture texts from Joel as he drove home from a meeting out of town.  Being from Seattle, he still struggles to adjust to the violent lightning storms we get in the Midwest and nearly shrieks like a girl when I like to watch the swirling clouds or peek my head outside to feel the eerie green calm that precedes a storm.

But as it turns out, his fears were justified.  The darkness rolled in like the apocalypse and the wind whirled around us and took our breath away.  We all hunkered down inside, thankful that there was no tornado warning to add to our anxiety, and watched as our deck furniture took flight and chunks of trees flew through the air and into our yard.

It was at that point that Joel was no longer the biggest worrier in the house, because Cael, normally not one to let the weather affect his mood, became alarmed by the flying debris. 

"Mommy, did you see that?  A branch just fell down!"

"Yep, that happens sometimes when it storms."

"Oh, there was a whole tree!"

"I didn't see a whole tree.  I think you might have imagined that one." 


"Nope, I saw it.  Right there-- did you see that?  A donkey just went by this window!"

"There are no donkeys around here, Cael."

"Yes there are.  And now I saw Papa flying!"

Sure puts the flying cow from Twister into perspective.

Despite Cael's exaggerations, and ignoring the fact that I had to check for an errant donkey just in case, I was impressed with everyone's ability to keep their cool during the scary thunderstorm. 

Everyone except Oscar, and his puddle of pee on the carpet.


Have a wonderful 4th of July!  I'll be back on Thursday with more antics to share.  You pray for good weather.