"Outrunning the Storm"

It seems like there are more storms around me (of the weather kind) than ever before. Poor old Florida has been beaten and buffeted over and over. I think the people down there are shell-shocked. Up here in Georgia we have gotten some of the wind and rain but nothing to compare with what the Floridians have been going through.

My wife and I went out to a fast food place for lunch today. This particular place sits right on the interstate so there were a lot of Florida people stopping there to get something to eat before heading back to Florida. I spoke with some of them and they really didn't know what to expect. They may have a house or they may not; they may have power or they may not; they may have damage or they may not. But the important thing was they were headed home.

It made me think of when I was a child. It seems like during the summer months, every time my brother and I walked up town, a distance of maybe five blocks, before we got back home we would spot storm clouds coming. Now you have to understand that we lived in Clinton and we knew everyone in town. If we got caught by a storm we could stop at any one of a thousand places and wait it out. But although my brother would want to stop I always wanted to get home.

My poor brother knew he would have to sit on me to make me stop, and also that he better not let me head home alone, so we would start running. The storms seemed to move fast in those days but so did I. My feet would be pumping as I headed for home. 

We would cut through the cemetery behind the Presbyterian Church. I usually didn't like to go in there but with a storm coming it was blocking my path. So through the gates we would fly. I figured if anything wanted to grab me it would have to catch me first.

Another block and we were only a downhill run away from home. I could see my house from the top of that hill and it always filled me with a thrill as I ran to the safety of its walls. We had a screened in side porch which was where we headed, and as the first drops of rain fell and the lightning began to flash I was usually safe and sound out of the storm.

Now our house was a small two bedroom framed dwelling. It wasn't made of brick or stone and a solid wind would probably have done some severe damage. Heck, if the big bad wolf had huffed and puffed he could probably have blown it down. Still once I was on the porch or inside the doors I felt I was invincible. It was home and that was where safety resided.

I think people probably still feel that way. That is why so many people decide to stay in their homes even with a hurricane bearing down on them. They want to be in that familiar place with their familiar things.

That longing is what I saw in the faces of those travelers heading back south. They had been forced to leave that place they all loved. Now they wanted to go back. They wanted to get home. They wanted to feel safe once again.

 

 

 

 

 

©2004 Jackie K. Cooper

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