Is it Munchkin Land??

Recently a dear friend experienced gall bladder surgery. Having already survived that surgery (my one and only) I made sure to visit with her to generally be a beacon of shining light... as well as to give her sister a break from staying at the hospital. My friend had a pretty rough go of it as her gall bladder was gangrene!!! Who knew that was even possible? She certainly outdid my gall bladder... as my surgeon only named it "the worst gall bladder EVER". He may have passed out if he'd been the doctor who removed my friend's organ.

At any rate... we had plenty of company at the hospital with various friend stopping by and checking on Lou and making her feel oh-so-much-better with just their very presence. As we were taking our leave, our friend Joni walked out with me, we said farewell in the parking lots and headed on to our respective homes.

There had been a really bad wreck on the interstate as an 18-wheeler apparently forgot how big he was and ran his load under an underpass and subsequently got stuck... closing down the interstate! I knew better than to go home that way. So, I thought to take the long way home, through the dark and winding roads.

About 10 minutes into the trip the wind began to blow as if Dorothy and Toto were flying by. Because it was already dark outside (and because tree branches were now hitting my car) I called the parental units to see if there were any warnings out that I needed to be aware of.

Sound of phone ringing and the Maternal Unit answering:

Mom: Hello?

Me: Mom? Hey... are there any weather warnings out I need to be aware of?

Mom: Where are you?

Me: I am driving home from visiting Lou in the hospital, but it has gotten really windy and there is some pretty bad lightning flashing. Are there any warnings?

Mom: I don't know. I'm not watching TV.

Pause for effect

Me: Can you ask Dad?

The Paternal Unit is always watching TV. He knows EVERYTHING.

Mom: Jack... are there any weather warnings? Mumbling response. He's not watching the local news. He's watching a ballgame.

Me: COULD YOU TURN THE CHANNEL TO SEE IF I'M ABOUT TO BE BLOWN AWAY BY A TORNADO?!

Dad: Well... there's something going on around Summit. Where are you?

Me: I just left Summit! Is it a tornado?

Dad: You might want to stop and go back before you hit that bad weather. They are saying there are strong straight-line winds. You know those can be pretty damaging.

Me: I'M HITTING THE BAD WEATHER NOW!!! Am I going to DIE?!

After about three minutes of explaining what I was doing and why I was in a car in bad weather, and didn't I have enough sense not to go out in that weather, even though the weather was perfectfly FINE when I left the hospital, I hung up the phone and prayed.

Ahhh... those parental units. What would we do without them?

I didn't die. I called my friend Joni who was also on the road, and whose home I was going to pass before reaching my home. Joni was just as concerned. The stoplights had all gone out as well as the electricity... but I knew I could at least reach shelter at her cabin at the farm.

Two hours later and the storms had passed and I made my trek home safe and sound.