Too many tornado warnings. . . . . . . . . .

It was eerie.

 It was unusual for February. 

It meant preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

We had it all, torrential rain and gusty winds, even periods of sunshine

 and blue skies.

Then the schools closed and children were dismissed early.

Over twenty tornado warnings, and six tornadoes touched down across our state.

There has been damage but fortunately no deaths or serious injuries.

By 4 PM it was getting scary as the storm got closer. 

TV showed an array of hailstones falling in different areas, softball, golf ball

and ping pong ball sized - take your pick, all will damage your car.

We removed the vacuum cleaner and such from the small coat closet under the

stairs and tucked in a large flashlight, a warm throw, and a small bottle of

white wine with two glasses in case we were stuck in there and feeling thirsty come

aperitif time. If you're laughing, I'm serious!

Lovely friends called from as far away as Washington State (thank you Sandy),

to make sure we were safe. Texts flew back and forth from family members

around town. You, my dear blog friends, left comforting comments which meant

so much and I thank you for caring.

Around sunset the heavy rains ended, thunder in the distance faded

in the cooler evening air. We went outside to view the flooded area of the

back garden, picked up fallen twigs to add to the wood pile, and watched
 the amazing cloud formations as they scudded in an end of day

 race across the sky.

 Later we were out again to view the brilliant full white moon, the sky was as clear

 as a bell and the stars bright and amazing.

At midnight I was definitely not happy and had a hard time going to bed,

not turning in until close to 2 AM and then not able to sleep.

 The winds had picked up again and were gusting fiercely, the trees
 swaying dangerously and branches were falling on the roof.
Honestly, I was more scared than I had been all day.

I love our older neighborhood built on what was once farmland, by builders
 who left the beautiful, stately trees.

I love the majestic old oaks surrounding my home, some must be close to

 80 feet tall, and are homes to squirrels, woodpeckers and many other wild birds.

I am now terrified living here during storms when I know the ground has been

 saturated by heavy rain, and the strong winds arrive circling through the tree tops

 which are far too tall, and the roots much too shallow. I dread huge trees falling on 
the roof as they did during two hurricanes some years back.

I think the time has come perhaps to move on to a place where I feel
 safer and life will be easier.