Monday, May 23, 2011

I'd buy that for a dollar!

So. 

We are safe here in our part of Missouri. Joplin? Not so much. The videos I've seen are heartbreaking.

I was grocery shopping just about the time that storm hit there, braving rain and a bit of hail because I wanted to make a nice supper for Sweetie that evening. Just as I was about to get in the check out lane, we were all told to please go to the back of the store and into the meat locker - a place with no windows. Cells phones were whipped out and fingers flew, (not me, as I had left my phone at home,) and we learned that a tornado had touched down, or was sighted, four miles from the store. 

That meat locker was cold! (especially for damp people in short pants and sleeves,) and it was hard duty for the fourteen year old employee to keep twenty cranky customers contained. No, he wasn't fourteen. But he looked it.

Long, not very interesting story short, we were released after fifteen minutes and everything and everyone was fine. No damage anywhere local.

Just a little later, I saw the news about Joplin, which is way the heck far from here, but still. I try to imagine my little town, my little neighborhood flattened, and mature trees mere stumps and everything unrecognizable. Hard to do.