{"id":7010,"date":"2024-03-17T08:35:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-17T12:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=7010"},"modified":"2024-03-17T08:35:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-17T12:35:17","slug":"your-safe-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2024\/03\/17\/your-safe-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0YOUR SAFE SPOT!!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!! – This is another “Sunday Story”; no politics here, just a story about what was “on TV” Thursday night.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ritual<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday nights Jenn and I have an \u201cold\u201d ritual.  Not that Jenn\u2019s old (that only applies to me), but we do have a serious addiction:  Law and Order SVU (look, Jenn I didn\u2019t say SUV!!).  <\/em>After twenty-five years, the SVU <\/em>cast <\/em>has become part of our family.  And since it\u2019s on almost every afternoon as well, we can catch up on all twenty-five years\u2019 worth if we miss one.   So we settled in after dinner, to watch the entire current package, Law and Order, Law and Order SVU, and Law and Order – Organized Crime.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But tonight our shows are pre-empted – a new show is on. It\u2019s called \u201cGET TO YOUR SAFE SPOT!!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s March in Ohio in this era of climate change, and tornado season is here, a month or more early.\u00a0\u00a0Our local station covers most of Central Ohio, and storms are moving in.\u00a0\u00a0So it\u2019s all WEATHER ALERT, all the time \u2013 at least for tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best Show On TV<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve got a couple of hours until our home in Pataskala gets into serious stuff, though the lightning is already flashing.  But, since there are tornadoes on the ground in the viewing area, the local station goes full time.  We are learning about tornado indices (who knew \u2013 a 5 or above means there\u2019s a good chance a tornado is on the ground), severe hail (1 \u00bd\u201d sized \u2013 ping pong ball), and wind shears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just twenty miles north, Delaware is under the gun, and areas to the northwest have already been hammered.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ve can see the storm headed for us \u2013 a tornado down right now, near Greenville, Ohio.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s about 100 miles west of us and that storm cell is headed our way.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave Says<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fascinating to watch.\u00a0\u00a0The bright oranges and reds, the greens and purples, all light up the TV screen.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m not a hallucinogens user, but if I was this would be the show to see:\u00a0\u00a0lines, flashing colors, lightning, wind shear grids, consuming all attention.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s even a new feature:\u00a0\u00a0a new blue spot on the radar.\u00a0\u00a0That signifies debris is in the air (remember that great line from the movie Twister<\/em>,\u00a0\u201cdebris, debris, cow!!!\u201d<\/em>).\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s actually pretty cool, as long as you don\u2019t think about what\u2019s happening on the ground underneath all those \u201cpretty colors\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave\u2019s the weatherman, and he talks directly to the audience.  It\u2019s not just about the map.  Dave will look straight into the camera, straight at you, and say:  \u201cIf you live in Ostrander, you need to be in your \u2018safe spot\u2019 right now!!!\u201d  And he must know more about me, and a lot of other watchers, then he should.  \u201cDon\u2019t go outside and look for it, it\u2019s dark and you won\u2019t see it until it\u2019s too late.  Besides, 1 \u00bd\u201d sized hail can hurt, and break the windows in your house.  Safe Spot, now!!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve Been There<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The other part of watching the \u201cTornado Show\u201d is reminiscing.\u00a0\u00a0Over the past several years, Jenn has trapped dogs in lots of little towns and crossroads throughout the state.\u00a0 I often go along as the driver\/trap-hauler. \u00a0We know folks who helped us out in a lot of those places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when a tornado was on the ground, \u201cWest of Indian Lake and south of Waynesfield\u201d we know where that is:\u00a0\u00a0it\u2019s New Hampshire, Ohio, a tiny crossroads where Jenn sat in near sub-zero weather waiting for two Pyrenees to go into a panel trap, just a few months ago (Rube Goldberg<\/em><\/a>\u00a0).\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s not much there, and after a tornado, I\u2019m afraid there\u2019s even less.\u00a0\u00a0The nice man who let us use his land and shed to put up the trap \u2013 I hope he\u2019s OK, and without much damage. (Actually, an F3 tornado did a lot of damage to the area, and killed three people).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greenville tornado is not far from another trapper\/friend.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ve been to her house, exchanging equipment, often enough that I don\u2019t even have to listen to \u201cSiri\u201d on the map application anymore to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may not be in the \u201ctornado zone\u201d yet.\u00a0\u00a0But the lights are flashing, the hail\u2019s pounding the roof and piling up on the deck, and the dogs are starting to look nervous.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It used to be that when night fell, the storms lost their power.\u00a0\u00a0But tonight, and in the big dawn-thirty morning a couple of weeks ago, lack of the warming sun doesn\u2019t seem to make a whole lot of difference. Climate change?\u00a0\u00a0It definitely could be.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s March 14th<\/sup>, just before St. Patrick\u2019s Day, and it\u2019s sixty-seven degrees at 9:15pm.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s hot, the dogs are annoyed (especially Buddy, our old man), and there\u2019s still energy in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Spot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve already written about our \u201csafe spot\u201d, the two bathrooms in the house (Singing in the Tornado<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0Buddy may beat us all to the bathtub, but Atticus is going to be a problem.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s still recovering from his knee surgery, and the only way to keep him off his leg is drugs.\u00a0\u00a0And he is drugged for the night \u2013 it will take some serious \u201ctreats\u201d to get him up and moving again.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s hope we can avoid — oops, there go the tornado sirens.\u00a0\u00a0Lou\u2019s, the crooner, is listening. I\u2019m betting sings again!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes until the second round of alerts \u2013 but now Lou and CeCe, our little one, are harmonizing together \u2013 \u201cOOOWWW-UUUUUUH\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s the call of the wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The storm wore out before it got here \u2013 we got lots of rain, some wind, but nothing tornadic.  But it looks like we might be in for a bad tornado season:  Look out, 1974!!!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunday Story Series<\/h5>\n\n\n\n