Blowout in the Boonies:

Pin It Since the storms blew across many parts of our nation today, I thought I'd give you an update on how we fared in the Boonies of TN. Because it got a little exciting here.

We heard that a couple of tornados had touched down in a town in the county that is just across the creek from us. So we headed to our small downstairs bathroom: all four of us, and two big dogs. It's a crowded little room with all six of us, especially when one of us (the German Shepherd) has storm anxiety issues.

Everyone but my husband hunkered down in the bathroom with blankets and pillows, with our shoes on. My husband stood out in the front hallway and watched the western horizon, over the creek. Exactly at the time the news predicted it would arrive, he sauntered back into the bathroom, clutching his camera, with his eyebrows up, and his face just slightly pale.

"It's coming," he said. The man is ALWAYS low key, cool, calm and collected. Even when he's having a heart attack. So we closed the bathroom door, and waited, hoping for the best. I prayed. Out loud. Because that's the way I roll.

I did not hear a train.

What I heard was low, loud moaning, and then a louder howling, and then clatter, clatter, CLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTER.

The lights flickered and flickered and flickered and flickered and flickered. With each flicker, I'd think, "Here we go!".

But mercifully, they stayed on.

As we somewhat timidly emerged from the bathroom to see what had transpired, this is what we found on the front porch:

The front porch. We had some hail...

I shuffled through the ice balls and thanked my Father in heaven for the safety we'd had.

This picture is taken from near the cliff that overlooks the creek, but you are facing back toward the "back" of the house. You can see the melting hail (the temperature had been EIGHTY DEGREES) and the downed tree.

We lost a couple of trees on the part of our land that is cliffs overlooking the valley and the creek below. At the house, we have some heavy white wooden rockers that sit on our long front porch, and they were picked up and carried to the other end of the house. We lost the internet (which also takes out our phone, and our TV: our connection to weather reports of additional oncoming tornados, which is kind of important. So that was a little troubling, but it was only out for a couple of hours, and mercifully the first round of storms was the worst.

Other than the downed trees, the only real casualty.
OR: what happens when a redneck leaves his Christmas lights out on the balcony of his studio.

 And, HEY! We're all safe!


Thanking God again.


It almost goes without saying that of course, I'm extremely concerned for all who had a worse experience today. My heart goes out, and my prayers go up, and I'll be watching for a way that we can meet the needs of those who did not come through this storm OK.

Have you ever been in a tornado? Would love to hear about your experience.