Well, it's only July 14th and the 5th named storm (Emily) is brewing in the Atlantic. I feel bad for the folks down in Florida and along the Gulf Coasts of Mississippi and Alabama. As you all know, I live on Long Island in New York. We do get hit with a damaging hurricane every so often. I believe we get a direct hit from a hurricane every 24 years or so, a tropical storm every 9, and remnants of tropical storms and hurricanes frequently.
Back in September of 1985, when I was in 8th grade or so, we got hit with a category 2 hurricane named Gloria. We knew it was coming and had a few days or so to prepare. My mom is a woman who panics and exaggerates every weather event. If the Weather Channel says we are getting 4" of snow, that is equivalent to 4' in her eyes and she panics. Well, when she heard this hurricane was coming she started preparing. It was supposed to make landfall on a Friday afternoon about 1pm. Well, around noon, she was watching the local news and they mentioned that hurricanes can spawn tornadoes. Well, that's all she needed to hear, she snapped. Her and my father carried this old, beaten up, bird shit ridden picnic table down to the spider, dust, cobweb, and dirt ridden basement that was unfinished. My mom then proceeded to grab an AM transistor radio, a box of oatmeal cookies, and a gallon of water to the basement and ordered all of us down there. As I was sitting there at age 13, I was thinking to myself, "this is going to be one fucked up way to die, sitting with my parents, my brother and sister, a box of cookies, a gallon of water, and a fuckin' AM radio." I was thinking, Jesus, I have never even gotten laid yet, I can't die yet. Needless to say we all survived and my mom blew it all out of proportion. The hurricane did some damage and we were without electricity for 9 days, other than that it was kind of an adventure.
A few years later, in 1991, the National weather Service predicted that Hurricane Bob would make landfall on Long Island. My mom, with memories of Gloria in '85 still fresh in her head, took a different approach this time. During Gloria we lost power for 9 days and had to throw away most of the stuff in the freezer and refrigerator that went bad. My mom would have none of that this time around. With the storm still quite a distance from us, my mom decides we are going to binge and eat everything in the freezer so it won't go bad if we lose power. So there we were, holding ice cream cones in one hand, frozen pizza in the other, all kinds of shit boiling on the stove, stuff cooking in the oven, just a fuckin' cornucopia of meats, pizzas, ice creams, and other frozen delights. After a huge binge and another panic, the weather report came on the TV stating that the storm changed course and blew out into the Atlantic. So much for planning.....we were all 15lbs heavier, but safe from the storm.
Amusing yes, but wacky! My mom still gets wacky over the weather. Does anyone in your family exaggerate over the weather or other stuff?
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16 comments:
Welcome Jen! Thanks for dropping by!!
My father grew up in a small town in Arizona, had never even left the desert. When we moved to Illinois after I was born he experienced his first "tornado watch", at which time he ran around outside screaming. Man, I wish I were old enough to remember that!
well I live in england the the brits love to talk about the weather. It's so bo-ring! It's actually hot over here today so everyone is saying, "oh it should rain soon since it's so humid."
Oh God, I remember Hurricane Gloria! I was 8 and I thought it was so cool, but it was pretty scary. The craziest thing happened to us during that storm. I'll never forget it. We had a huge Elm tree in the back yard that fell over onto the neighbor's deck. We were staring at it through the window and when my dad went to call them to ask what the damage was, we looked back out and the tree was standing upright. Can you believe it? We had to have someone come take it down so that it wouldn't fall down again. It was nuts.
The Missus and I get "Weather Channel" crazy. We got nailed by Andrew (I'll post about that soon.) so we get a bit nervous about those danged things.
I personally hate the weather channel. I just look outside to see what its doing out. But then, in Jersey, we get very little extreme weather - just the occasional remnants of hurricanes and snowstorms.
As a child, Hurricane Gloria was awesome. Now as a homeowner, I don't ever want to see a fuckin hurricane come through here again!
I'm so used to hurricane warnings, especially after last season...been very lucky though! When I was little I always wanted my mom to get all excited about a hurricane, board up the house, buy lots of food...but she never did. I was like what the hell, everyone else's parents are doing that. Maybe she secretly wanted us to get blown away. My brother boarded up his house for Charlie, we all sat there eating and laughing, waiting...NOTHING...not a drop of rain!
I was 9 when I lived in Pensacola and hurricane Camille decided to hit. My mom was great - she got us two girls (at the time) and made us play under the dining room table while the wind and rain scared the geebies out of her, but we just thought we were special 'cause we got to play games under the table. Your mom sounds like a hoot.
My mom is a great lady, but way too wacky when it comes to stuff like this...I could write a book on all her antics.....
We'll just call my mom Jan. Yes, my red headed mother is a young one. She is also a true Irish/Italian woman! You know how Irish ones either drink or are a little nuts...well Jan got both. Maybe it was the Italian mother that caused her to throw back a few of those Yummy Carlo Rossi glasses of vino. You know the warm stuff that all Italian Grandmas keep in the cupboard.
Well my mother is the QUEEN of exaggeration. YOu realize according to her...we've seen a UFO. Hmmm, I'm in TN and she wants to know if I have an emergency box for all the Hurricans we may get. Mmmm..oh and yes...Jan is invading in early August. LOL...oooooh the stories from Queen Exaggeration will be to follow.
She is a hoot, though...and I wouldn't trade her for anything. She cracks me up and taught me how to just laugh.
XOXO
C
Thoughts, she sounds awesome...I look forward to the stories!!!!
I am the queen "weather worrier" in my family. Only because Tornadoes scare the crap out of me...so what do I do? I move to TN from Philly last year.
Hated the bad storms when I lived in FL, Hated the Snow Storms in PA & Hate the Tornadoes in TN...and I am sure if I moved to the West Coast I would hate the earthquakes. I know...bitch, bitch, bitch... LOL :)
Rachwell and I know someone who brings bad weather with them everywhere they go...We didn't have a hurricane until he came back from being 5,000 miles away... Remember the Northeast Blackout in '03? Yeah, he was there too... We call him the vortex... Talk about someone who freaks out about the weather.
That's a great story about your mom! hahaha
We never really worried about weather conditions here, especially hurricanes and tornadoes. My mom is a nut about earthquake preparedness, though. Every time I leave their house, she shoves gallons of water and some "snacks" for my car in case there is a major earthquake on my way home (an hour drive) and I get stranded.
I get just a tad crazy about weather. I too get get it from my mom. My brother and I are married and to this day she always has an inventory list of check off items if there is even any hint of winds over 40mph.
Flashlight
Batteries
water
dog food
cooler
ice
gas in the car
ect,ect,ect.
One time my husband and I drove to Ct in the winter(I'm in NY)My mom said bring blankets,pillows,food,water,flashlight and batteries.
She even bought my brother and I scissors for our cars so we can cut the seat belt if it doesn't open. Ironically enough,I once had to cut my self out of my Camaro. I wasn't in an accident I just couldn't open it.(thanx mom)Then I found out there was a recall on them and got all new seatbelts installed.
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