Tuesday evening my niece and her boys joined us for dinner. We had tacos until we burst, and then played several hands of UNO, each of us hoping to have the chance to win.
\nThe kids both had homework, so we cut the game short after I had lost about four hands. As they put on their shoes in the foyer, the storm sirens started up. I herded everyone into the bedroom hallway, and we closed all the doors leading into the hall. I can’t remember the sirens ever going off before. We tried to ease the youngest one’s fears while we waited. Dear Husband roamed about watching out the windows and trying to find a weather report to tell us what was going on.<\/p>\n
\nWhen the siren stopped, and the rain eased, my niece and the boys made a dash for the car for the short ride home. I was uneasy about their driving because tornadoes were reported in the area. There were three separate fronts leading northeast into the southern suburbs of Chicago. We were in a direct line for the northern-most storm.
\nMy niece called when she got home to let us know they were safe, and we waited to hear about three of my siblings, who were in the path of the other storms. We were lucky. My second sister had to go without electricity overnight and into Wednesday. The area where she lives, part of an historical district, had a lot of damage. Her biggest problem was how to blow dry her hair in the morning.
\nUnfortunately, eight people in Utica, Illinois, near Starved Rock State Park lost their lives. Many of them lived in a trailer park, and had sought refuge in a brick building that housed a tavern, thinking it would be safer than their own homes. The tavern was demolished.
\nIt’s time to pack an emergency bag, and to gather chairs and towels, candles, a flashlight, batteries, a radio, water, and anything else that might help us weather tornado season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tuesday evening my niece and her boys joined us for dinner. We had tacos until we burst, and then played several hands of UNO, each of us hoping to have the chance to win. The kids both had homework, so … Continue reading