Lions and tigers and . . . tornadoes? Oh my!

Well, Palo Alto officially has a tornado warning in effect. It has been dumping buckets of rain for a few days now and lighting and thunder abound. It's come and go for the most part, but we've been officially "warned." There could be a tornado coming.

Of course, the sky's not green/yellow and there are no funnel clouds to be seen anywhere and thankfully, no hail, but hey . . .

We've been warned.

Where'd it go?!

My rain is gone. One day of 50+ mph winds and almost ten inches of rain (no joke) and now it's GONE?!!?

I need to move somewhere where there are hurricanes and frequent storms/rains. Seattle is looking ever-so-tantilizing because I know it rains all the time there.

I'm itching. Can I move there? Just live on top of the Space Needle and be happy with the rain? It makes those fleeting sunny days so precious, I think.

Californians are weather wimps. I'm fairly certain of this. We don't have tornadoes, hurricanes or blizzards (unless you're in the mountains). Generally speaking, we don't have to worry about thunderstorms and hail. Sand bags are referred to so infrequently that I have a sneaking suspicion most Californians have to remind themselves of what sandbags are for any time they hear mention.

I crave living in a place where the weather is just a little more violent. I want to see lightning light up a sky. I want to play with hail. I want to feel the build of heat and humidity that cracks with an afternoon or evening thunderstorm.

Gosh, thunderstorms are such amazing sleeping weather. My freshman year of college, I lived with a girl who was TERRIFIED of thunder. Having spent the first 10 years of my life on the east coast, this was unheard of to me. I cannot recall a single time in my life where I was afraid of a storm.

Yesterday's storm feels like such a teaser . . . I'm itching for violent weather. I want something intense enough to watch.

**sigh**


Can I tell you a secret? I've always admired the people who take cameras and go chase storms. I feel like I would LOVE that experience . . . Maybe someday I'll take my family on a cross-country storm-chasing trip. Of course, with my luck, I'll end up giving birth to some seriously weather-phobic children . . .

My heart breaks just a little at the thought.

Today it is pouring in Palo Alto and San Jose. I will be needing to hit up Target after work for an umbrella, but I'm so excited about the weather. I felt the flick-flick-flick of tiny rain spatter on my face waking up this morning (slept with the window open -- rain was blowing in a little bit).

Bliss.

I love the rain. Alex and I have talked about how cool it would be to live in Portland or Seattle, where it rains a great deal.

Of course, prolonged rain does get depressing after a while, but generally speaking I love it. I have a sixth sense for when it's going to rain. I can feel it, smell it, KNOW that it's going to rain . . . Of course, the grey clouds are a pretty big tip off, but even on overcast days, there's something distinctly different that goes along with the rain.

Tonight, on the way home, I'm picking up broth, green onions and a few other ingredients I'm missing so I can make potato soup.

Will blog about how this turns out . . .