Looking outside today at the incredibly cruddy weather reminds me of one such 'cruddy weather' occasion from my youth. Granted, there were lots of them -sadly, only a few I really remember, mostly for their impact on my life in one way or another. I'll have to get to the year of the big blizzard at some point... if I could only remember which year it was. I'll have to ask my dad since he was directly involved.
As for this moment in time, it has everything to do with the big tornado of 1980 that nailed downtown Kalamazoo. It was on a Wednesday, May 13th (and yeah, I had to look that up. I knew the May part, but I have long since forgotten the day). I was in Kindergarten in Central Elementary and I don't really remember the hubbub actually leading up to the hall-way gathering; ya know, where the kids all neatly sit against the walls with books over their heads? I'm not the only one who remembers this, am I? We would all gather out in the hall attempting valiantly, yet pretty unsuccessfully, to quell the abject terror and sobbing wails of the children amid the palpable and poorly-hidden panic of the teaching staff... and put big books over our heads. Because it's books that save lives, ya know. It was like a horror movie where weather was the antagonist and there was far less gore.
Well we gathered, since, as it turns out (and again I had to check the records) that the N.W.S. issued the tornado warning around 2:30. Now, back then Kindergarten was full days, not halves as it is today. I know this because I remember taking naps in school on little floor mats. I'm not attempting to justify my memory of this auspicious occasion for your benefit, reader, I'm doing it for my own. As I've said: Swiss Cheese is this memory of mine. There we were, lined up like passengers on a boat bound for nowhere; waiting out the warning and each secretly hoping that our school wasn't about to be yanked off terra firma and tossed around a-la Dorothy's farmhouse.
Well, as we all know, it didn't. In fact, the tornado itself manifested miles away over the city of Kalamazoo, so we were in no danger at all. Preparedness aside (and man were we prepared) it was all for naught. However -and this is the part I really remember- I was apparently so scared out of my 6-year old wits... that I yacked in the trash can. One of those big, cold, gray models that used to hang out in schools. Yup, I just barfed right in it. I'm not sure if I was the only one who spewed, but I'd sure like to believe that my actions caused a severe chain reaction much like Chunk's tail in the Goonies and everyone within sight distance began harfing all over the place. But I kind of doubt it. But that's how it goes during a tornado warning, I guess.
Oh, and that officially brings the number of tales that eventually involve puking up to 2! Wow... that's quite an achievement.
As for this moment in time, it has everything to do with the big tornado of 1980 that nailed downtown Kalamazoo. It was on a Wednesday, May 13th (and yeah, I had to look that up. I knew the May part, but I have long since forgotten the day). I was in Kindergarten in Central Elementary and I don't really remember the hubbub actually leading up to the hall-way gathering; ya know, where the kids all neatly sit against the walls with books over their heads? I'm not the only one who remembers this, am I? We would all gather out in the hall attempting valiantly, yet pretty unsuccessfully, to quell the abject terror and sobbing wails of the children amid the palpable and poorly-hidden panic of the teaching staff... and put big books over our heads. Because it's books that save lives, ya know. It was like a horror movie where weather was the antagonist and there was far less gore.
Well we gathered, since, as it turns out (and again I had to check the records) that the N.W.S. issued the tornado warning around 2:30. Now, back then Kindergarten was full days, not halves as it is today. I know this because I remember taking naps in school on little floor mats. I'm not attempting to justify my memory of this auspicious occasion for your benefit, reader, I'm doing it for my own. As I've said: Swiss Cheese is this memory of mine. There we were, lined up like passengers on a boat bound for nowhere; waiting out the warning and each secretly hoping that our school wasn't about to be yanked off terra firma and tossed around a-la Dorothy's farmhouse.
Well, as we all know, it didn't. In fact, the tornado itself manifested miles away over the city of Kalamazoo, so we were in no danger at all. Preparedness aside (and man were we prepared) it was all for naught. However -and this is the part I really remember- I was apparently so scared out of my 6-year old wits... that I yacked in the trash can. One of those big, cold, gray models that used to hang out in schools. Yup, I just barfed right in it. I'm not sure if I was the only one who spewed, but I'd sure like to believe that my actions caused a severe chain reaction much like Chunk's tail in the Goonies and everyone within sight distance began harfing all over the place. But I kind of doubt it. But that's how it goes during a tornado warning, I guess.
Oh, and that officially brings the number of tales that eventually involve puking up to 2! Wow... that's quite an achievement.
No comments:
Post a Comment