Tuesday, January 03, 2006

rumblings from the sky.....

When you think of Atlanta, it never quite includes some of the wacky weather that you see other parts of the country endure. We do not get the lingering cold snaps that last for months, or snow blizzards. This is perhaps one of the reasons why I decided to move to this part of the country. I was easily convinced that not owning a snow shovel was a good thing. But then, that was my reasoning back in 1983.... I was under the impression that the weather was always mild, sunny and warm; and for the most part, it is.

Yes, we have had a few snow storms since I've been here, but not more than a few, and usually they melt down within a day. Ok, I can live with that. At least I still haven't felt any real need to go out and buy a shovel. Besides, the whole city has a habit of shutting down as everyone is in the same predicament, and the plows the city owns are few themselves. They are put into production only once in awhile, so what is the need to have too many?

We do have our share of tornado warnings though, and even a whole season dedicated to keeping an eye out for the ferocious monsters to strike. That season is generally spring, when a watchful lookout to the sky can become one of the first measures you can take to keep yourself safe from being whisked off. Of course, a watchful eye on the weather channel and local news becomes a standard with which you live in as well. They are hard to predict if still in their mass form, so one needs to know the sound they produce, which at that moment might be a tad too late to do anything about it. You always see the people who have survived these on TV after the fact, and the one unified statement that comes from them all is "it felt like a train was coming through the back yard". That's a pretty accurate statement, as I've felt my share, and been through enough to recognize that this wasn't ordinary weather.

The first real sign to look for is the murky green-gray atmosphere of all these charged ions. It is real creepy as the animals have the first link to what's going on and tend to get real quiet as they hunker down. The only real noise you hear is the wailing of the town sirens. By that point, you know that you'd better be heading to the basement to wait out what might be a false alarm or a full fledged hit. Having the local news on at the time will have you listening to the weatherman warning of where they have recorded touchdowns and areas next in line for the assault. I have a TV in my basement, and watch it faithfully during these times.... feeling like it's never too safe to be informed.

Somehow, my little town, just north of the big city, is like a void area that hasn't suffered any direct hits, but only the sirens of anticipation. Everywhere around me has been affected, and in some cases damaged. Grand oak trees have uplifted themselves by the roots, as if trying to escape the winds, and tall pines are snapped in two, not able to withstand the forces of bending so far over by the same pressures against them. It almost looks like a tall drunken giant was trying to make a trail through the landscape. The after-effect is truly devastating.

Ok, so that being said, spring is a wonderfully beautiful month in this area. Flowers have been sprouting since the first moments of warmth, trees are budding with their clothing of leaves, and everyone is thankful that you can spend more time outdoors. So imagine my exclamation when I heard the local news yesterday warn of impending tornados for the area. What??? This isn't spring.... or did I pull a Rip Van Winkle? We aren't supposed to be worrying about this for a few months. But then I remembered that we aren't supposed to worry about hurricanes either.... and look what's happened to us in the past two years. We were struck by four of the hurricanes that hit in 2004, and two from 2005. Aren't we a little too far inland for that? Apparently not.
I guess it shows me that not everything is as it was... and there is not too much that is predictable in the scope of the weather patterns. At least we still are not experiencing blizzards of the winter fashion.... but who knows, it may be the next "change" we will all have to become accustomed to. Hopefully not, as I still don't want to buy the shovel if I can help it.

8 Comments:

Blogger Neo said...

Ellen -Yeah that would scare the hell out of me. (Tornado's)

I look forward to the snow. And no my building has people here to do all the snow removal.

Philly is the same way with snow removal. They just push it away and wait for it to melt.

Lazy bastards! ;)

11:16 AM  
Blogger Ellen said...

Living in NH for years took away all the "glory" I saw in snow... they get some real busters up there. I realize the only time I miss it is on Christmas Day... then it can be banished for the rest of the year, as I hated shoveling it.
Tornados can be scary, but I've always wanted to go on one of those storm chaser excursions... close enough to see one, but far enough away not to become "Dorothy"... although I've had a few close calls.

11:53 AM  
Blogger Neo said...

Ellen -LOL "Dorthy," we're not in Kansas anymore!

It's been raining for like the last two days here. I'm playing hooky from the job today. Shhhh don't tell anyone. ok? ;)

12:08 PM  
Blogger Ellen said...

Neo- Your secret is safe with me!
Hope you are enjoying hooky, as much as I did today!

3:53 PM  
Blogger Milk Brain said...

hurricanes i can handle.. you know they're coming.. but tornadoes? no thanks leave them in the south... my husband has family who lives in Cumming, Ga (near you, i assume) and i dont' know how they do it.... all the humidity! i'm not one for humidity, i don't know how i grew up without an AC... better believe we have several now.. i'm so spoiled, but poor mom, still lives by teh fan and the ocean breezes.... ahh the beach.. i do miss it, but the mountains are nice too.

ya know.. i really don't mind the snow and winter... unless it gets bitter cold, in which case i'm omore than happy to send that bitter cold air back to canada... as lewis black says, "the government should build a wall on the border with canada to keep all the f***ing cold out!" or something like that.. it's a great bit of his!

5:50 PM  
Blogger Ellen said...

MB- So good to hear from you!
Cumming, GA is real close... just two towns north from me. As a matter of fact, my sister-in-law and her husband live in the same town. Lovely little community.

Yeah, we do have our share of humidity to deal with, and it took me a while to get used to it... then missing all those oceans breezes was hard... but at least my home was built with central air, so I don't have too much of a problem with it. My commercial kitchen is a problem as it can get pretty hot in there (no air) with all the ovens turned on... especially during the summer. Just like being at the gates of hell.

You are right about the tornados, hard to see them coming when they can pop up so fast. Lucky for us, the town is on 24 hour watch, and the sirens go on at the first mention of "warning". Still a little creepy if they happen at night.

We have just enough winter here without the bitter cold for days on end... besides the daffodils are due to start coming up by the end of the month. Gotta love that!

I love the Lewis Black comedy... kind of like a mix between Andy Rooney and George Carlin. He makes you think about impact issues.

Take care, and come back to visit any time!

8:08 PM  
Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Wow, Ellen, I didn't realize that was your area on the news.
I do actually like shoveling until we get a foot every week, like last year.

We've had 2 water spouts in Cape Cod Bay in the past decade that I know of. One years ago I saw while driving over the top of the Bourne Bridge, the other was on the news last summer.

Think I've been aware that all weather bets are off ever since I started my blog, but especially the Tsunami put cement on my belief that the pole degree shift n ice-flo-melting are having an un-predictable ripple-effect.

Guess we should be ready for anything these days!

8:33 PM  
Blogger Ellen said...

Snaggle- I was up there celebrating my birthday when the water spout was in the bay (back in 97). I remember it because it was big news that week. What a coinkydink!

I was watching Discovery Channel yesterday and they did a story on the weather changing patterns. Seems like our earth is overdue and in the midst of a polar reversal. Most of it was very scientific and beyond my comprehension... but the reversal thing caught my attention. Seems like every 200,000 years the earth rotates... the last one was about the time when man first came upon the scene. Freaky, huh? It should all happen long after we go to the great beyond.... but will have to suffer the effects of it on it's journey.

I was luckier than poor Morgs. She is down in Macon (about an 1 1/2 hours south of me). It was more in her area. We just had the very noisy thunder and torrential rain up here. When it thunders here, it roars!

9:19 PM  

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