This isn't the post that I planned on launching today, but in light of the devastating result of the tornado in Oklahoma, I veered away from some of what I was going to say.
No words can convey the sadness that our family feels for the victims of such a tragic event.
For the the last three days, Kansas City has been under tornado watches, tornado warnings, and severe thunderstorm warnings. This usually, doesn't have me too overly concerned. I have, after all, lived most of my life in or near Tornado Alley. As with most Midwesterners and Southerners that reside in this swathe known as Tornado Alley, we have all had some close up and personal interaction with really bad storms. Usually, they sound far worse on the news than they are in reality. However, there are those occasional storms that do live up to their warnings. A number of years ago, for example, I got a phone call from my brother to say that a neighbor had called him to say they found our father standing on the concrete steps leading to his house in shock. The house was gone...just my dad and the steps remained.
So this past week, we had been watching the maps of the impending storms that were going to cover Oklahoma and Kansas. Saturday afternoon, the sky darkened and all regular programming was interspersed with weather reports. Weather is always, a big portion of our news programming here but on days when there is a threat of something....heat, drought, wind, rain, snow...or any combination of those, the programming turns to non-stop weather. During the Spring here it is not uncommon to have the background noise of our weather radios. Many of us now have Weather Shield apps on our phones to alert us to updates on impending weather reports.
Which brings me to the original thought I had for a post today.
Thought Number One: If I had my own weather station, what would the programming look like for Kansas City over the last 6 months.
Last year we were in the EXTREME drought.
Then...after Spring was supposed to have arrived
THEN...it started raining....and raining...and raining
And then the last three days of "promises" of hail and tornadoes.
Thought Number Two: I Am Worried for the Bird
Back to Saturday night...we had turned on the weather radio to listen for updates as it appeared on Doppler that the eye of the storm would hit Kansas City and we were concerned about having to put on yet another roof...or worse.
AND we were worried about the bird...
Outside of my office window on the upper floor of our house, there is a bird, ....a bird on nest.....and in that nest there are two little eggs.... waiting to be hatched. That poor bird didn't make the greatest choice to place her nest but there she is in all kinds of horrible windy, rainy weather. She is tenacious though. Even as the storm rolled through and took part of her nest down into the gutter, she remained.
(Note: the pictures are a big grainy as the only way to zoom in on mommy bird is to "shoot" through the screen.)
Our family is sending thoughts and prayers to any of the victims of the recent storms. We hold you and your family in our hearts.
Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments
Posts
32 comments:
Glad to know you are safe. I can't watch the news coverage anymore because it is just too heartbreaking. It really is a reminder that everything can change in an instant. I'm keeping the entire community in my prayers.
I agree..things change in an instant. I, also, have the TV off today. So heartbreaking.
I cannot imagine the stress of living in such a place. Sure, we have earthquakes here in California, but not "earthquake season" every damn year. You people are clearly made of stronger stuff than we are. Such a very sad situation, but a great post and I adore your wonderful little characters. So clever. Now I'll be worrying about that sweet bird and expecting updates. Glad you're safe, my friend.
I always feel the same way when I hear about people living on the banks of a major river and being flooded out every Spring...why do they stay?? I guess it comes down to "This is home." This is where our brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren all live.
It is fairly amazing though that I have lived near tornadoes my entire life and they rarely do widespread damage. Usually they touch done and go right back into the sky.
The other thing I wonder about is why builders in this part of the country don't do a better job of installing tornado rooms or storm shelters. Our house has a basement with a tornado room as many of the newer constructed homes have.but I see a lot of homes that have no place to go in the event of a storm. I don't get that at all.
I don't get it either. Just read where officials are "vowing to rebuild Moore." Wonder if they will do any better this time.
My good friend that I grew up with, her family is in OK, just north of the devastation. She was a nervous wreck until she heard from her relatives. I can't imagine.... Those poor family, my heart goes out to them. Mother Nature can be a real mother at times.. :(
I am THRILLED to know YOU are safe and sound. And my whole heart goes out to those affected in Oklahoma. I cannot even begin to imagine their suffering.
Mo and I were in shock (and tears) as we watched our news. We kept asking why people live in an area like that, but you just answered that, I suppose.
We had a bad hurricane some years back, with a couple of deaths and quite a few casualties, but I can't begin to imagine what it's like to live with the threat of tornadoes.
I can't imagine what it would be like to have one of these monsters descend on you with little warning. My best hopes and wishes for these poor people.
Thought number 1 tornatos are terrible and cause so much destruction and so much loss of life is horrible and makes me very sad..............
Thought number 2 I also would worry about the bird.............
So glad to hear you are well. All kidding aside, those of us who know you only through your blog feel attached to your life, and care about your safety. I think this is the wonderful thing about our telecommunications, although we all tend to have broadened our monitoring of weather systems because of it. I can never watch TV with any of this type of thing. Too heartbreaking from so far away. The weather is crazy but we all do the best we can, just like your little bird there. Warm hug.
The bird... oh how I needed that bird to be OK.... I am SO glad you posted that...!!!
I am putting my head in the sand as far as coverage on the tornado. I can't imagine what those brave people are going through.... I start to cry the minute I see the pictures so I just turn away. I can pray for them without seeing the images, yes?
I noticed that there were references to basements there. Maybe some storms are so powerful that nothing would help. If I would ever live in an area that is prone to tornadoes, I would have to have a storm shelter. I am more than a little paranoid after my dad's house flew across an 8 mile area.
I can't imagine that either, Aleta. Not knowing where my family is, would be pure hell. I agree Mother Nature can, indeed, be a real mother.
Thank you, my friend. Even though, I had my post and pictures put together Sat. afternoon while being confined to the house because of storms...I was hesitant to post about the subject of bad weather because of the tragedy in OK. I, too, feel so sorry for all of those affected by the storm. These types of things change peoples lives forever.
Over 50 percent of the U.S. was under weather advisories on Saturday and Sunday...so there really are a lot of places that can occasionally get dangerous weather. Luckily, tornadoes that touch down to the ground in populated areas aren't that common. But when they do, they can be horrific. It is also, very rare that early warning systems don't alert people to get to storm shelters. I have been in a couple of tornadoes that were minor in comparison to the OK one...and there were plenty of warnings.
Yes, I have once or twice been frightened by a visual of a funnel cloud but most never touch down. With Doppler Radar and Early warning systems, it is rare not to have some warning. In some states where houses are built on slabs, I don't understand why there aren't storm shelters or safe rooms more often. Here in KC. our houses all have lower levels and some have concrete rooms commonly called tornado rooms.
It is really sad to see the aftermath of a town devastated as Moore was.
Are there tornadoes in Australia, Jo-Anne??
I, too am sad hearing about the loss of life, the injuries and the destruction of property. Terrible..just terrible.
The bird is still on her nest today. I wish her eggs would hatch so she could move out of the eaves. I worry that the next storm will wash her nest away.
No there are not any tornadoes here down under........thankfully.........
Thank you, my dear blogging buddy!! Saturday when I was writing my blog and griping about the odd weather patterns, there were several tornadoes in Kansas but did minimal damage. I never imagined that a monster storm would blow through OK. Here, not only the TV stations monitor the weather, but we have sirens that warn us when we need to take cover. In our town there is even an automated phone call that calls every house to tell them when something "important" is happening. And of course, our cell phones alert us as well. There are apps people can download to get them warnings from the National Weather Service.
The weather is crazy and I am so saddened by the events of Monday in Oklahoma.
The bird is still hanging in there. She is snuggled down into the eave waiting for her little eggs to hatch.
Katherine, you and I are so much alike on that score. I haven't had the TV on all day as I just can't bare the pain those families are having to endure right now. And I don't think it helps to have the media asking stupid questions that seem more than a little insensitive. Yes, I think we don't need to watch any of it in order to hold them in our thoughts and prayers.
As for the bird, she is still sitting on here nest. When I go out my front door she is keeping a close watch on me as she peeks over the top of my eave. Today, my husband and I decided we are going to start calling her Eve, for obvious reasons. I hope her little birdies hatch before another big storm blows through here.
Well said.
So horrible. So tragic. I can't even imagine.
Thank you Riot Kitty!
My prayers go out to all the people in Oklahoma that are dealing with the tornado aftermath...I hope they can recover quickly.
I also hope that mother bird and her young ones make it through ok...I am always amazed at the survival instincts of the wildlife. I've watched birds in the wild build their nests in the most unusual places and followed them over the weeks (months?) until their babies hatched and were learning to fly. I love learning from nature!
The videos of the tornadoes looked absolutely terrifying. I'm glad you guys are OK. It won't be too long before it's fire season here and you'll be pictures of hill ablaze and houses burning. And the news will be saying, "Sourthern California's on fire!!!" and my sister will be calling to see if we're OK. I suppose every place has it's version of nature's anomalies which gives the news guys something to obsess about. I'll keep Oklahoma in my thoughts.
I hope your bird friend is OK. We've been having a spate of birds crashing into our picture window then ending up dead on our patio overhead. I feel a little complicit since I draw them to our yard with my feeders but I guess they have to determine their own flight paths. I feel awful when I find one, though, especially if it's an oriole.
I agree, Liggy...I hope their community heals as quickly as possible.
We have watched mommy bird for a couple of weeks now and she was being really batted around during the storm Saturday night... but she hung tight. I hope she gets her eggs hatched. How Mother Nature works is truly amazing.
Have a great week!!!
It does look terrifying on video. The pictures of the devastation are nearly unbelievable.
If you are ever interested in seeing a really fascinating but unsettling video. The IMAX Theaters have been running Tornado Alley which has footage taken by storm chasers in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. I didn't see any IMAX listings showing it in AZ but there are a few in California. Worth seeing if you are fascinated by weather events.
I agree with you Bud....nearly every place has a down side...some more than others. I wouldn't relocate away from my family because of the occasional threat of a tornado. There may or may not be a new troublesome aspect to wherever I would move to.
The bird, who we now call Eve (or maybe Eave) is still being a good mom to her nest. I am always conflicted by my yard's wildlife. I found a couple of dead baby birds after the storm under one of my pear trees and it made me sad. Now the mommy bird is squawking at me in the back yard. I guess she thinks we have taken her babies. Mommy bird needs to move it along to another person's yard.
I guess you and Muri keep your windows so clean that the birds are thinking they can fly through them. Try just having really dirty windows.
Monday afternoon became a little nerve racking when I heard this tornado started in New Castle the town my sister lives. She and her whole family were fine and no damage to property or persons. For awhile I was watching news reports and looking on google maps for locations being reported. I had an aunt and a daughter asking me what I knew of the situation. Finally I got a text from my sister and I quickly passed that along to the others. I'm sure there is no going back to the days of delayed news coverage but not knowing about these events until things were settled was less nerve racking.
The devastation in OK is heartbreaking, indeed. Thankfully, where we live there are few bad storms, although the weather radio does go off on occasion for severe thunderstorm warnings, tornado watches and warnings, etc. I have it set for our county and the one next to us since we live close to the county line.
As for your little birdie, I find that doves aren't the brightest birds on the planet. Hope she and the little ones survive.
Most of the really bad storms seem to always miss the Kansas City metro area. When warnings are out though, I pay close attention. Never say never!
As for our little bird dilemma. Eve as she is now being referred to is still hanging in ...well...on her nest. What she loses in intelligence she makes up for in tenacity. I hope it works out as well. I don't want to look out my office window to a bird catastrophe.
I'm glad you're safe. I wouldn't worry too much about the mourning dove and her babies. Being a pigeon has its perks ~ their stupidity is balanced by their determination.
Post a Comment