Tornado Warnings

The tornado siren blasted, and for once I heard it. I closed all the curtains, turned off the computer and the power strip and then unplugged it, and left the TV on so I could see (or hear) where the storm was tracking.

Then I waited.

At one point, after taking this video, I took shelter in the closet under the stairs while my cat hunkered flat under the futon.

What I saw frightened me, but it excited me, too -- not in the way daredevils are excited by imminent danger, but because of the awesome power and primitive beauty of hail and trees twisting in wind and lateral rain.

It's no wonder earlier peoples invented deities for thunder and lightning, for natural phenomena beyond their understanding and our control. I paid homage to the majesty of that same force.