Twister

I was at my Noni's tonight when I saw the footage from Oklahoma for the first time today. I can't even imagine what these people must be going through.

I'm in NEPA. We rarely see this kind of action. Yet, I remember when I was little, like...1st grade....we had a tornado watch. I didn't really know what exactly a tornado was. Once, my mom and dad were watching the movie Twister and it scared me half to death. Then I went inside during this tornado watch and on the screen was a real life scene from Twister. From that day forward, I was deathly afraid of tornadoes. I couldn't sleep at night because I would worry about a tornado coming. This went on for years. I would hear thunder and I would think TORNADO.

Then one day I actually sat down and watched a Storm Stories marathon on the Weather Channel for a good 12 hours. This was the start to my "I want to be a meteorologist" phase. The only channel I ever watched was The Weather Channel. I was in 3rd or 4th grade. I watched The Weather Channel 24/7. This might tell you what kind of kid I was....and the kind of weird person I am. Anyway, this Storm Stories marathon inspired me. Not only did I want to be a meteorologist, I wanted to be a storm chaser. This was the beginning to my adrenaline junkie phase that hasn't ended yet. Then once I actually watched the movie Twister and all I wanted was to be Helen Hunt in that movie. That movie became my bible.

That might be an exaggeration.

Then I hit the 6th grade, when we began to learn the nitty gritty stuff of meteorology. That was the end of my "I want to be a meteorologist" phase.

 Yet, the adrenaline junkie phase still lives on. I would tag along with a storm chaser in a heart beat. I'd chase a tornado myself. A small one. In NEPA. Near a mountain that would kill it. Since the path of a twister can really change at any second, I'd like to be with professionals who knew what they were doing.

I've got CNN (found my remote) on right now and all I can think is "I want to be Helen Hunt in Twister." Why didn't I follow those storm chaser dreams? Why can't I like science more? I can't even imagine a mile wide tornado. A MILE. That's huge. But Helen Hunt dealt with one in the movie Twister. And right now, I'm kind of wishing I was a storm chaser, out there following that twister and figuring out the science behind it. How on Earth did it stay on the ground for 40 minutes? How can we better predict it and warn the people sooner?

Finally, I'd like to say, I'd like to get caught up in the eye of the twister and survive like Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.

Also, someone on CNN just said it was exactly like the movie Twister. There were cows flying around and cars. Crazy.

God bless the people of Oklahoma.
You can help the people of Oklahoma by donating to the Red Cross. Text REDCROSS to 90999.