Spinning clouds and the gods

Me,

When I was a little girl, my mom would retell her story of the family TV blowing up from a lightning strike when she was little. She tended to tell this to me when there was a thunder and lightning storm, and so it really didn’t make me feel great. Now as an adult, I don’t like the sound of thunder and I don’t like to be in the lightning. If I could see it from a safe distance, I would.

and Them…

Mike and Moni, however, seemed to have grown up enjoying these storms. So, with heavy rain pounding against our motel room windows, they wanted and still want to watch the whole thing.

The blinds open,
I go the bathroom.
I stay in the bathroom.

I think I have a healthy fear of tornadoes. I don’t feel like dying today, and I don’t want to see a tornado coming toward me. Is it likely that we will be hit? Nope. But my childhood, I’m sure, shaped my angst of such a horrible, natural happenstance.

Religion

Mike and I were talking about the Bible Belt and tornadoes. It kind of makes sense that as this country was being developed, people became more and more into their religion—mainly some flavor of Christianity.

Or, as Mike put it: “The Bible Belt and Tornado Alley are somewhat in the same spot.”

And maybe, just maybe, a hundred or more years ago, with death so prevalent from disease, people had the added fear of death from tornadoes falling from the sky. Maybe people just wanted to make sure they were squared away with God… just in case.

I only stayed in the bathroom for 5 mins, but it was long enough for me to think about how spinning clouds and the gods shaped the culture of this part of the South.