We
had quite the storm last night. The clouds gathered in the afternoon, then
dispersed, only to reassemble in the early evening. About eight o’clock, the sky
was gloomy and grim, and lightning flashed constantly. We were sent a tornado
warning by Environment Canada; while such warnings occur in the summer in my
part of the world, they are not common. This was, however, the first time I
thought the weather directly overhead justified such a precaution.
The
warning included the advice to take shelter in a basement. I have no basement.
I do have cats, however, and, though fewer than priorly, I have enough under
which to bury myself and have them absorb the shock from any destructive force.
They are also good for use against concussion grenades and tactical nuclear
weapons…
On
the subject of the cats, they behaved well. None was much concerned with the
storm except Tucker. He, my most sensitive roommate, retreated to the closeness
of the nylon tunnel when the first thunder rolled. I certainly don’t blame him;
it must be frightening for an animal not to understand the causes of such
noises and illuminations. There was one particular lightning bolt that brightened
the heavens, and which was followed by a very loud crack. I thought that might
move some of the other beasts, but they were unperturbed.
The
storm passed, and Tucker emerged. The violent weather had begun at snack-time, but
only he had allowed it to disturb his eating. Perhaps as a consequence of that disturbance,
the roly poly one had a better than average appetite afterward, and ate well
from his soft-food servings.
The
light-show introduced a downpour. This, despite – or because of – its intensity,
did not last long, and the storm soon broke up. The night was cool, refreshed
by the precipitation and released of its tension by the lightning. Though I could
do without the threat of a tornado and its possible damage and injuries, I do,
in the words of Mr Rabbit’s song, “love a rainy night, I love a rainy night; I love
to hear the thunder, watch the lightning as it lights up the sky.” After the
storm, I and the cats – Tucker, too – “woke up to a sunny day.”
It's fortunate that your cats aren't overly perturbed by such weather. We don't get thunderstorms particularly often around here, but when we do poor Ernie hides under the bed until it's all over. He's a timid fellow scared by any loud noises.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad no one was particularly upset by the storm. One our childhood dogs was terrified of thunder and would wedge herself under the claw-foot tub. But none of the cats who has graced my adult life has been troubled by bad storms. That same cannot be said for myself, however.
ReplyDeletePrecious runs at the sound of a lid hitting the floor! We had a serious
ReplyDeletethunder storm Thursday eve, and she went straight for her safe place
under the bed. 1/2 hour after it ended rather quickly, she came out
to continue her supper and even allowed me to lift up onto my legs.
But it is nice to know, John, you have personal body armor when needed.
Those storms sure can be scary and we don't like it when they mess with our mealtime!
ReplyDeleteWe get a lot of thunderstorms here and I do not like them at all! The first rumble of thunder and Flynn and I headed for the bedroom and got under the covers until it was over. Eric on the other hand loved them. He would sit in the window watching and not even bothered by the loudest cracks of thunder.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe for a minute John that you would allow the cats to take the brunt of the storm on your behalf. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is that time of the year when lightning storms are pretty common here. Thankfully though we don't get the tornado warnings often either. I saw some photos of hail that hit Calgary - shingles and siding were damaged and gardens were decimated. Yikes!
Take care and stay well.
My cats don't seem to be bothered by thunderstorms, but perhaps it's because noise from outside really doesn't carry into my apartment. I had one cat years ago, who loved thunderstorms. Casey would sit on the windowsill and watch the lightening - he thought it was a fireworks display that was being put on just for him.
ReplyDeleteThat ended very well indeed. Thank goodness. They call my area Dixie Alley, a play on words of the famous Tornado Alley as we are plagued with tornadoes all year around. So far, there have only been a few, and the worst so far is the one that cut a destructive swath through Nashville.
ReplyDeleteAh! Bless! I remember my George..
ReplyDeleteIf he was settled down on the sofa
next to me, then suddenly up and ran
under the stairs, l knew there was a
storm brewing, he of course could hear
it..long before me..!
And..sure enough a little later the heavens
would open up and let rip..l don't like all
the thunder and lightning, and felt like joining
him under the stairs..! :).
I like a good storm too. Miss pops will often head out the catdoor to watch for some reason.
ReplyDeleteMichigan is not in America's "Tornado Alley", however we are near enough to the top of that general area, to received a few tornado watches or warnings every season. As much as I'd like to witness a funnel cloud for myself, the sheer stupidity of being anywhere near such a thing prevents even me from venturing outside to look up...although, I'd done so in the past and sometimes get outside just to watch the rain fall.
ReplyDeleteCelestial Angel was always afraid of loud noises, including fireworks and storms...and garbage trucks, fire trucks, and the street sweeper machine.
Today, Sweetie, Manny, and Chili Bruce pretty much ignore everything, except once in awhile Da Boyz will jump when The Hubby grinds his coffee beans.
We had our storms and booms go through last week but they were late and we were settled in bed so not much reaction. That it interrupted treat time is intolerable though! Put a note to storm management in the strongest terms
ReplyDelete