The Mother gave me the gift that keeps on giving when I was a child: a fear of thunderstorms. I don't do well during them and I do even worse when I am by myself. Tonight we have a high wind advisory and a tornado watch--along with severe thunderstorms. And K is on night shift, so I get to experience all of this by myself. I am so lucky.
I am not quite as crazy during thunderstorms as I used to be--but I still have rules that have to be followed while the weather is bad. Gone is the rule that states: ALL electrical objects--except for the refrigerator and kitchen range--MUST be unplugged during a thunderstorm. However, I still have my list of rules:
1) NO running of water during a thunderstorm. This means no showers, doing dishes, laundry, etc, or washing hands. Water--after all--is a great conductor of electricity.
2) The computer WILL BE OFF during a storm.
3) NO talking on the phone.
4) Avoid the kitchen and bathroom--water and metal abound in the two rooms. This equals great electrical conductors!
5) I will not sleep in our antique brass bed during a storm. Brass=metal=bad. (So maybe brass WOULDN'T attract lightening--DON'T care.)
6) I will avoid the cat--fur=static=bad.
7) I stay away from windows. Windows let the lightening see me and then it can 'get' me.
That may be it for my rules, but I'm sure I will remember more. While people in other parts of the country will look on me as completely crazy, I am what I am. Add the tornado watch and I am on the verge of a panic attack. For those who regularly go through tornado watches/warnings, you have no idea what this does to me. We get thunderstorms, but rarely do we have tornado WATCHES or WARNINGS. In all my years, we probably have had actual tornadoes less than a dozen times in the entire UP. This does NOT make for a very happy cmk, I'll tell ya! I will close this post now and go and maybe find something to help me cope--an adult beverage or six might do the trick! :)
Storm Rules
