Ebony's Pearls

Finally, we get rain. I have it on good authority that the tornado sirens went off, because Itzl did exactly what he's supposed to do when they sound at any time other than noon: he chuffs at me and goes to his safe place - a reinforced cubby under the computer big enough for him, Shika, the cats, and the other critters in their travel cages.

For the first time in his life, the storm worried him. He ignores most storms unless there's lightning, because he likes watching the lightning. Tonight, he herded the cats and Shika into the safe place, then wanted me to take him outside, just like a true Okie.

You can tell an Okie because when there's a tornado warning, they'll go outside and look at the sky. Neighbors will compare notes and anecdotes about their tornado experiences and make predictions on where the funnel, if any, will touch down. And if they get to actually spot a funnel - well that just makes their day.

So, Itzl and I stared at the sky a bit. He kept looking off to the southeast. I was peering more to the west, because if we get tornadoes, that's where it usually comes from. Southeast is not a threat.

The rain was coming down so hard I could only see the near branches of the redbud tree just outside the front door. We got a bit of hail - teeny stuff that melted as soon as it hit the ground. We had strong winds - according to the anemometer, we had gusts up to 80 mph, which made me glad I put the new trash can in the storage shed. I've lost too many trash cans to the wind, and they've gotten expensive.

When we came back inside, the news was telling us that there was circulation at the fairgrounds - southeast of us. And they said the tornado sirens were going off. I couldn't hear them, so Itzl did his job perfectly by letting me know to pay attention to the storm.

Itzl allowed the critters to get out of the safe place after we came back in, but he paced and worried for another 4 minutes.

That's when the hail stopped and the wind and rain eased.

Itzl went to the front door and sniffed for a few minutes, then he jumped up onto his pillow and now he's napping. We still have thunder, rain, and lightning, but he's not worried about it anymore.