In the past few weeks we’ve had some wild weather. A couple of Saturdays ago I was enjoying a lovely day. Sure it was overcast but the temperature was perfect. I had the front and back doors open and a gently breeze flowing through the house.

It began to rain, not heavy at first but it got harder and the wind picked up causing the rain to go sideways. I noticed flashes of lightening but didn’t think anymore of it. Suddenly, my phone started vibrating and beeping. It was an alert for a Tornado Warning. I sat there for a minute not really knowing what to do. ‘Guess I better close the doors.” I thought. Okay, doors shut, now what?

The next thing to happen, the TV started blasting a LOUD BEEP and the local news took over. The banner running along the bottom of the screen said to take shelter immediately. DUH. Again, I thought, now what?

I’ve never experienced anything like this so I just sort of sat there and watched the Weatherman explain what was going on. He was showing a map and pointing to an area south of my location. He was saying something about a possible Tornado in that area.

WHAT? Tornado? I’m in Florida, I thought I only had to worry about Hurricanes. Fascinated, I watched the weather report and then the news. Sure enough, a tornado touched down about 7 miles from my house. Wow, what a mess and the destruction was incredible. It was a short lived tornado and traveled about 3.4 miles. No injuries, thank goodness but lots of damage.

Where does one go when there is a Tornado warning? Google was a great help finding answers to that question. ‘If possible, go into an interior room, preferably with no windows and wait it out.’ The best place in my house is the Master Bedroom closet. Suggestions were to have a chair, flashlight and some water. My thoughts are to, grab your purse, cell phone and your tablet, if you have one. Maybe your laptop too. Now I had a plan should my phone begin to vibrate with that message! If I’m driving, all bets are off. No clue what to do in that instance. Hope it never happens.

The following Friday, we had more storms that caused another Tornado but is was miles away. Having been born and raised in Southern California, Earthquakes were our major concern. What to do during one was drilled into us. As I said, Tornados are different all together.

Sunday, very early in the morning, brought more Thunderstorms. I awoke to lightening and LOUD thunder. First thought was that my neighbor was leaving on his Harley. I hear it every time he starts it as he heads out in the morning. After I realized the time, 4am,  I knew it was thunder. My dog, Diva, was up on my bed laying next to me. We watched the light show and listened to the rumbling of the thunder from the safety of the bed. No vibrating phone or Emergency broadcasts on the radio. Eventually, Diva and I got a little more shut eye.

Remember when I mentioned Earthquakes? Those really scare me. I do not like them at all. I’ve been through a number of them. The one in 1994 damaged our house severely, what a mess. Trust me, they come without any warning. The windows rattle and it builds from there. Most often, window rattling is all that happens. Maybe a chandelier sways slightly, pictures on the walls are askew and a knick knack or two might fall down. It is over before you know it but that initial rattle or rocking gets the old ticker going.

The next heart stopping moment came this past week. The windows began to rattle. FLASHBACK. EARTHQUAKE! Panic almost took over. Thankfully, the rattling stopped. WHAT THE HELL? It’s Florida for heaven’s sake. Don’t know what caused that but since the hanging light in the entry way didn’t move, I concluded that it wasn’t an earthquake after all. My heart settled down to it’s regular beat and the day continued. Another incident of window rattling occurred later in the day but I didn’t panic that time.

The reason for the windows rattling was announced on the radio. It was SONIC BOOMS. The Navy or Air Force was practicing maneuvers in the area and that was the cause. No need to worry he said. LOL, tell that to my California nerves.

There is a saying, ‘if you hear hoof beats, think horses not zebras.’   I will try to remember that next time, windows rattle, my phone starts vibrating or thunder rumbles.