A Tornado's Foreordained Duty?
One of the memories of my childhood involved a small tornado in a small cloud, which I referred to, some days ago, in a humorous post on memories of farm life with an aunt and uncle. Upon reflection, I now add these words:
The tornado was not really so funny at the time. That thing went right over our heads. I know it did, because as we were descending the steps into the storm cellar, I glanced up and saw the cloud turning and turning and turning, scarcely a hundred feet up, directly over our heads. At that moment, I felt fear. And then, it was gone, leaving us safely behind as it went about its foreordained duty of tearing the roof off the school building in Bakersfield.
I've sent these words to one of my cousins who was also present during the tornado's passing, just to test my memory.
posted by Horace Jeffery Hodges @ 7:11 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
A group of friends and I once observed a funnel cloud, over the field just across the road. It was less than two-hundred yards away, rolling along one-hundred feet about the ground, which it did not touch. It was indeed frightening, but when we ascertained that it was not going to touch the ground, we were moved with all sorts of fascination and scientific interest.
It sounds scary anyway. Incidentally, I should here note that technically, what I saw was a funnel cloud. Only if it touches down is it called a tornado. Colloquially, we Ozarkers made no such distinction, and in the case of my 'tornado', it became a real tornado anyway when it touched down in Bakersfield, Missouri and tore the roof off the schoolhouse.
Jeffery Hodges
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