Sunday, May 23, 2010

It's Tornado Season Again!

How do residents of tornado country know this? Could it be the incessant screaming coming from the weather radio? Or perhaps the bluish gray clouds that form into wall formations plus some others swirling like so much water going down the drain? Maybe it's the weather peeps on teevee breaking into the programming to let you know if you are in this certain area, you should seek shelter immediately? Or maybe if you live "in town," the tornado siren going off could clue you in.




Or, maybe it's the Vortex 2 folks in town. Professional tornado chasers. People who, in my humble opinion, have lost a large portion of their substantial brains somewhere in the process. Ya gotta be a half bubble or so off plumb to do this every summer.

All joking aside, their research is very valuable and I'm quite sure they aren't quite the adrenaline junkies portrayed in the movie Twister. Why do I say this? Twister's authenticity kinda took a hit for me when I saw the scene of the cow being carried off.


link

Any cow I've ever been around would be shrieking in panic, not the minor annoyance bellow we just heard.



Plus, bonus points for the hood ornament. The little dog stood right out in that parking lot, but I missed the Cadillac emblem until I looked the picture over while transferring them to the ol' laptop. That is just plain class. Although it would be classier if they actually washed their ride once in a while. I think I see some Oklahoma and Texas sourced built up dirt and scum on the leading edge of that hood. It's a little too rusty colored to be Kansas crud. Heh.

2 comments:

drjim said...

"Half a bubble or so off plumb"....Man, that's new one to me! I know *exactly* what it means, but never heard it before.
After I moved out to Kalifornia from Illinois, I used to talk to one of my "native" friends about earthquakes. He didn't mind them, but told me he was terrified of tornadoes! He went to his MOS training at Chanute AFB in central Illinois, and hed been through a few twisters, and he said they just spooked him out big time.

threecollie said...

The whole tornado concept scares the heck out of me, but I love watching the chasing crews on TV. We got a kick out of the scene in Twister with the cow as well. Seems to me if one were lifted into the air it would fold a bit more, rather than being so stiff.