Tornado Warning

I made a stop on my way home from work that put me in line with leaving at the time of a tornado warning in the area.  I tried to get ahead of it but by the time I left, the sky was black and branches were starting to accumulate on the road.  A down tree and an urgent message on the radio to avoid exact spot I was driving through shook some sense into me and I decided to pull over at a local restaurant to wait it out.  I ordered a skinny margarita and a avocado crisp appetizer and fooled around on my phone while I made plans to see attend a book release / peaking event with a friend.  I have been stepping outside of my comfort zone lately – after the spontaneous trip to Newport with Ty, and more recently singing up for a tap dance class with some friends.  For various reasons, my view on life and on making moments count has allowed me to face some fears that I have been carrying for 37 years.  Apparently tonight’s adventure will check off another box: escape a tornado.

The plus side of being out in a crazy storm is that there is some comfort in the magnificence of nature.  In a matter of minutes the sky went from dark and stormy, to calm and peaceful.  I pulled over to marvel in the views that I got witness and appreciated the fact that I had to literally “weather the storm” to experience the colors and beauty of the aftermath.  I stopped on the side of the road by one of my favorite hills with the most amazing views.  There were a few other cars who stopped and joined me in my admiration and photo ops.  I like people who find beauty in the sun set after a storm.  They are my kind of people.  The ones who recognize the importance of stopping to appreciate a moment.  We always have somewhere to be, some place to hurry up to get to.  Dinner to make, chores to do, part two of the life of a working parent was awaiting me, after all.  But in that moment, standing at the hill and observing nature was where I needed to be.  I was able to capture some of this on camera, though the pictures do not do it justice.  The point is, to remind everyone to do this more often.  Why not stop and acknowledge the magnitude of the Universe, and our piece of it. I was thankful to have witnessed it, and it has already inspired a whole slew of ideas.