Archive for May 22nd, 2008

When Tom was 12 his house was destroyed by a tornado. He, his younger siblings, and his mom were in the basement at the time. He’s not a fan of bad storms. Neither am I. My first year teaching I lived in Iowa and taught in Illinois. Several times I had to cross the Mississippi River in the afternoon, trying to beat the green clouds home.

When we moved here to Colorado, we were grateful to learn that tornadoes were rare on the Front Range and were weak at that. Strong straight line winds were common, but as long as they weren’t in a tight little circle…

You will be hearing this afternoon and this evening that several towns north of Denver were hit by tornadoes this afternoon. They were. And some of the damage is pretty bad. Windsor was hit hard. We’re still under a tornado watch until 8:00 tonight, and a tornado warning for us right here where I’m sitting expired 15 minutes ago.

There was another storm cell over Boulder county that moved over us…and as I dashed outside to move my van into the garage in the hailstorm, there was apparently a small tornado jumping over us.

Now I’m hearing reports of 6 confirmed tornadoes. The big one that hit Windsor was 3/4-1 mile wide. This doesn’t happen here. Not tornadoes this big!

After the storm finished with us here, it moved up to the town where A goes to school. He doesn’t do well with storms; he’s heard Tom’s stories too many times. I can’t believe the school hasn’t called. I figured he’d be freaking out by now.

The big one that hit Windsor…you’ll see the pictures on the news tonight. It was a large, powerful, fast-moving storm. I have a friend whose family lives up there; she can’t reach them. The cell towers have blown down and she can’t reach her family.

Some of the damage is astonishing.

Let’s hope this is the end of it for today.

Know how I know spring is finally here?

Is it the leaves on the trees? No.

Is it that I’ve finally purchased (and Tom planted) my spring flowers/vegetables/ground cover? No.

Is it that, holy hell, the boys are out of school in a matter of days? AGH! No.

The solicitors are out.

So, as a public service to anyone considering coming to the House That Chaos Built, let me outline Jen’s Rules for Selling Crap On My Doorstep.

1. 1. My basement is already finished.

2. 2. No, I don’t want an entertainment book to support a wheelchair basketball team I’ve never heard of.

3. 3. Strangely enough, the HOA requires us to have our backyards landscaped damned near immediately and we’ve been here almost five years, so…do the math. I’ll help…NO!

4. 4. If you’re going door-to-door looking for houses to clean, I don’t want you cleaning my house.

5. 5. If you think I’m going to buy organic vegetables mail-order from someone ringing my doorbell, you need to go back to smoking whatever you’re growing with those vegetables.

6. 6. If you’re wearing a Scouting uniform and are polite and articulate, I will actually buy your cookies/popcorn/Christmas wreath.

7. 7. That also goes for High School Band Members selling something for that trip to Disney World. BTDT, actually do have the t-shirt. And don’t dick with me, I know your director.

8. 8. And, no, for the love of all things sweet and holy and good, I am NOT going to buy meat off your truck!