In these times, we get information as it is happening. My grandmother has said that most of the things that happen are not really new. They have been happening since the beginning of time. She tells me, "Read the bible, there have always been thieves, whores and murderers. Don't let anyone blame your generation for all of the evil."
My grandmother is a smart woman. I hear her words when I watch the news. I try to remind myself that nothing is new when I see so many earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters. I try to remind myself that nothing is new... that we have survived all of this before..
So, this brings me to today's nonsense. I live in what I consider to be a rather extreme area of the world. I'm sure it is not the most extreme, but it is the most extreme place I have ever lived. Let me explain, step by step.
In the winter, often there are extreme storms that leave thousands without electricity. I understand that my uncle has snow drifts above his roof line, and I will agree that is extreme. We do not usually get much snow. We get ice. It literally rains ice. Once that ice lands on the streets, it makes the roads useless. It is simply dangerous. As the ice falls, it weighs down the power lines and tree limbs. Eventually those collapse and cause power outages as well as trees crashing into cars, roofs...etc.. You get the idea.. This happens often, not once every twenty years or so.
Once the ice melts and things begin to thaw, rapidly we approach tornado season. The first week of May seems to be the worst. Now, most people who live here are used to them, in that there is usually not panic involved when the sirens sound, usually. There are jokes about people standing outside watching them go by. This is true. We have the best weather warning system in the world and we can see exactly which street the tornado is headed for. It is amazing. It is also deadly weather.
Their are also regular storms, although calling them 'regular' seems a little misleading. I have lived here for 20+ years and do not use an umbrella for 99% of these storms. Why? Is it because it is just a little light rain or mist? NO. In Oklahoma, when there are storms, there is usually a LOT of wind and lightning. When I say wind, I am not talking about Portland, Oregon or Pensacola, Florida where they issue wind advisories when it is over 20 mph. (PUHLEEZE ) I am talking about crazy 50-80 mph winds that will tear off a roof just as easily as a tornado. The lightning is just as bad. I know so many people who have had their houses struck by lightning. Some of those have just had to purchase all new appliances and electronics and have their houses rewired. Some have had to rebuild. Oh, are you wondering about the umbrellas? Yeah, watch the people from out of town with their umbrellas. First of all, there is LIGHTNING... the real stuff, not the stuff in the Internet photos. Second... well, unless you purchase the large vented umbrella, you are really wasting your time. The wind blow the rain so hard here that it is often sideways. Yes, sideways. So you are going to be drenched anyway, even if your umbrella does not turn itself inside out from the winds. Why bother. People often joke after they move here that you need to learn to drive in the wind, since it really is work to keep your car on the road when it's over 50 mph.
Okay, so that gets us to the summer. We have two choices here. Either really hot and humid or unbelievably hot and parched. There is no mild summer here. If you prefer accommodating temperatures, do not stop here. This summer, we had a break in the weather last week and 96 degrees felt LOVELY.. Can you imagine a day when 96 feels wonderful? Exactly. It had been well over 100 for days and the 96 was quite a drop.
So, we have ice storms that can trap us in our homes for days, we have tornadoes and other violent storms, we have severe lightning and super hot summers.... I feel like I am leaving something out. Oh yes, HAIL.. Hail sounds so explainable scientifically. It seems to require very specific conditions to produce. I am telling you that hail comes often here. For no apparent reason. The first few years I lived here, I actually believed it was only associated with tornadoes. We have had a lot of hail the last few years.
Now, why in the world did this come up today? I will tell you. My husband and I are talking about different places we are considering moving. He is not from Oklahoma either, but apparently he has forgotten what it is like to live anywhere else. I told him the monthly climate averages in a couple of the other areas, told him there were no more earthquakes than there are here. (We get them, but they are no big deal.) I told him it doesn't get too cold in the winter, and rarely reaches 100 in the summer. Tornadoes are extremely rare and no hurricanes. He looked at me as if I must be lying. He even had me compare statistics with our town.
He has not lived here as long as I have, but he firmly believes that everywhere is as extreme as this area. Well, I told him I still believe there are places where the weather is not terrifying. I lived somewhere for 11 years. I never saw a tornado, (they have had a hand full of them), never felt an earthquake, and never saw more than a few snowflakes. There certainly were no ice storms. Once there was a violent lightning storm and a couple of houses burned down. Once. I believe there are still places on this planet where I would not assume I will use my house insurance. He does not. He acted as if there was a 'catch', or some fine print. So, we will be taking a few trips.
My first storm in Oklahoma, I was completely unprepared and uneducated about tornadoes. The sirens went off and I took a cordless phone, a $20 bill and my car keys to the closet of my apartment and called my father. "What do I do now?" I asked... He shouted back, "Get off of the phone!" and hung up on me.
Needless to say, he has laughed a lot about that day. He grew up in Oklahoma and Kansas, so he knew. He had seen. I could never have imagined the things I have seen the weather do here. It is almost as ridiculous to try to explain what it is like here as it is to explain to my Oklahoma friends what it is like to just have regular light rain often. No crazy wind, no lightning, no floods.. just a little rain.
It is an amazing world that we live in...and there is a reason that people study weather here. It is quite the sampler platter. I cannot imagine anyplace where you would see more variety. So I remind myself, this is nothing new. We have survived so many disasters and rebuilt our lives and homes. Still, I find myself wondering what it will be like in the next place that we live.
One thing is for certain. No matter where we end up, we will certainly be prepared. Even if it has a more extreme winter, or a more extreme summer, this new place certainly will not have both. I am crossing cities off of our list if they could possibly have both. I know what to do in an emergency situation. I have had plenty of practice. I can pack all of my daughters meds in an orderly fashion in seconds. (My daughter has an entire kitchen cabinet full of medications.) I know what to do in a variety of situations.
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