Weather and Family

Southeast Michigan experienced both an earthquake and a tornado yesterday! I don’t remember that happening before.
I only recall two or three times that we’ve felt an earthquake around here. Yesterday’s epicenter was around Ottawa. They’re always mild here, so it’s just fun for us in Michigan to feel tremors.
Tornadoes, on the other hand, wreak a lot of havoc in the Midwest. I generally take a less-than-serious attitude, but last night I was driving on the highway in a torrential downpour looking right at the storm. It was dark, and I was nearly alone on the road. Every overpass had a fire truck or cop checking for funnel clouds.
Sarge, my cousin and the friends with whom I’d just been playing euchre called to check on me. The radio reported that there was a tornado headed right for me. I finally decided to get inside somewhere. I pulled into a Kroger, where workers waved me in, yelling, “Get in here! It’s two miles from us!” How welcoming!
A mix of a dozen customers and workers headed to the half-basement in the back of the store. We waited it out; the lights even went out for a few minutes. There’s a real camaraderie when strangers are in a situation like that. We chatted for about an hour and then were on our way.
When I called Sarge to tell her that I was home, she said that Mom had been crying because she was nervous about me. I guess she choked up, saying, “My Nancy, my Nancy.” God, that just tears me up to think of my mother worrying that much about me! I don’t ever want to cause her any upset.
This morning, she told me that she got mad at me for going to play cards. Now, that’s love!! Ha, ha! This is so typical of nearly every member of my family, who often have trouble pinpointing the actual source of their anger. They get mad if you don’t wave at them, even when you don’t see them! My family is a real hoot.
Mom had called me a couple weeks ago to warn me of a tornado. I didn’t get to the phone in time and the machine got the call. This is what she unwittingly left on my answering machine: “Shit! Why can’t she answer the damn phone?!?” I guess she didn’t see any relevance in that she had called me at 3am.
Yep, they’re a hoot . . .