Stormy Weather -- continued

"What's wrong Charlotte? Are you feeling sick again?" asked Mama. "There - there - there's the sn-snake's tail!" She pointed to the wall. "Where? Where is it?" Wanda jumped up quickly and looked, first in her chair, and then under her feet. Daddy brought the lantern, and when he moved it the tail moved too, out of sight. "See, it is the snake!"squealed Wanda. Daddy looked again and said if it was the snake it had gone back into the rocks. He thought the storm was over and we could go back to the house.

Wanda asked Charlotte when they got back into bed, "Did you really see something moving in the cellar?" "Yes," said Charlotte, "and I don't think it was a shadow! It flicked just like a snake's tongue!"

One more time during the night Mama got them out of bed and they sloshed toward the cellar. The girls didn't want to go this time; they weren't as afraid of the storm as they were of the snake in the wall. "That's just a shadow," Daddy told them. "See, there's a cobweb waving in the air, and the light from the lantern makes it cast a shadow on the wall." He reached up and swept away the cobweb and the wiggling on the wall stopped.

When morning came the sun was shining and Mr. Johnson came to ask if they would like to ride in his truck to see damage caused by a tornado the night before. They all piled into the back of the truck and as they got closer, they began to see trees with their limbs stripped off and pieces of metal roofing scattered in the pastures. Three people had been killed and nothing much was left of the house where they had been when the storm hit. Broken bits of furniture and windows were scattered in the path of the storm. A few confused hens and roosters roamed about the yard, pecking at this and that. "Look, Mama," said Charlotte, "there's some one's dress hanging on the fence."

That night Wanda and Charlotte talked about the things they had seen at the place where the storm hit. "I'm glad we have a cellar to go to," said Wanda. "Me too," said Charlotte, "even if it does have a snake in it!"

Stormy Weather

As I wrote in the last post, we had severe weather in our county this week. Tornado warnings were in effect for the western part of the county, and since we are on the eastern side we really didn't expect weather that severe, but went to the cellar just the same. It was morning before we heard there had been two tornadoes, resulting in two deaths, and terrible destruction of homes and stores and farm buildings, in town and country. And furthermore, the second storm cut a path all the way from town, through rural areas, and up into the mountains; the way the crow flies it was only about 2 1/2 miles from us where it tore into a home, killing the man who lived there.

Now all this makes me remember storms we experienced before I was ten years old. We had a cellar, such as it was; looking back on it, I seriously doubt we would have been safe inside.

Our cellar was a hole in the ground with a smoke house built over it. Logs, covered with dirt, made the cellar's ceiling and rocks lined its walls. There were shelves on two sides where Mama put her canned vegetables, fruits, pickles, and jellies. The first smoke house was made of logs,

but by the time I can remember, planks had been added for siding. In this picture the cellar door is open, behind the boys. Now this is somewhat like our cellar adventures could have been:

One day Wanda saw a snake go between the rocks, leaving its tail sticking out. Mama brought a hoe to try to pull it out, but the snake's tail broke off, leaving the snake to hide there. As time passed, spring days heated up and storm clouds formed, forcing us to make trips to the cellar, sometimes several times in the same night. Daddy carried Charlotte; Mama threw an old quilt over us and one over herself and Wanda and we dashed out into the rain and lightning and thunder, toward the cellar. Daddy latched the door and lit the lantern. The wind roared and rattled the door, rain beat down, and hail bounced off the ground.

"I hope that snake died," said Wanda. The girls crowded close to Mama and shivered from the dampness. Charlotte felt sick inside from being jerked awake in the middle of the night; Wanda complained that her feet were wet and cold. Air from the crack around the door made the lantern light flicker, the glass jars glistened in the faint light, and shadows danced and swayed on the cellar walls.

Charlotte thought she saw something move on the wall above Mama's chair. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. There is was, sorta waving back and forth like the slow-moving wag of a dog's tail. TAIL!! That was it! That was a snake's tail! The snake must still be inside the rocks! She gasped and hid her face in Mama's quilt.

...to be continued

I am rather confused with the blogging problems; I have lost my list of followers (I am so proud to be told I now have 17!) and there are some blogs that will not let me leave a comment. But since others have said they're having the same problems, I feel better, knowing it's not my fault. lol So, if you don't hear from me it doesn't mean I'm not reading your posts; you're still my friends and I love visiting with you.

Charlotte

Wednesday -- Around the Yard

Stella d'Oro daylilies, filling in with color now that the irises have finished blooming

Spiderwort, a wild flower, very aggressive, makes a beautiful blue addition to a shady bed, closes up by noon. The roots resemble the legs of a spider and are almost impossible to pull or dig out. For several seasons I tried to get rid of it; now I just let it be since it is very pretty.

Oxalis is a good plant for small beds, pots or rock garden pockets, in full sun or half-shade. It has a tiny bulb and there are some being scattered in the yard away from the bed; I believe moles have pushed the bulbs out through their tunnels. I have been told deer really like to feed on it.

Hen and chickens is a fleshy plant, also good for rock gardens. It was formerly planted on roofs to ward off lightning; maybe I should move mine from this old wash pot to the roof during all these storms we're having! If you look closely you can see chicks under the upper left hen. These are growing in the wash pot Mama used to heat water in on wash day. Daddy knocked a hole in the side of the pot for drainage when she began using it for flowers; that ruined any value it might have as an antique.

Last night we had severe storms in our county with two deaths reported. My husband cleaned out our cellar yesterday afternoon, and when the weather radio woke us up during the night we were glad to have a place to go with one of our daughters and her family and their tiny dog in a carrier. Sometimes a cellar can be a creepy place with spiders and wet floors. A barn swallow was on her nest in the cellar and was upset whenever six people came in with a candle. We had no damage here on the farm; however, two tornadoes were reported to have gone through the county and schools were closed today because of power outages.

Be safe, and if there are warnings in your area, take action to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Charlotte