Friday, December 08, 2006

Twistin' The Day Away

Thirty-seven years of life in the United States taught me to expect extreme weather events. Growing up on a farm also taught me, for example, that one should never speak on a telephone during a thunderstorm. But I was getting accustomed to, perhaps even enjoying, the gentler, if more frequent, variations in the weather here on this green island.

So it came as some surprise to me yesterday afternoon when Mrs. Werbenmanjensen emailed me a news report about a tornado that had hit the neighborhood of Kensal Rise, a little too close for comfort. In 37 years of living in the United States, I probably have never been this close to a tornado touchdown.

It's unusual: more unusual than an ex-Soviet spy poisoned by polonium, if you are familiar with other such events. Let's just hope that English weather returns to its normal, gentle nature soon.

3 Comments:

Blogger Middle Kid said...

Thunderstorms bring many rules with them: You should never take a bath during one and you must unplug all electrical appliances (microwave, toaster, etc.).

By the way, I would never call English weather gentle. It's currently only 8C there. Brrrr!

4:18 PM  
Blogger zeditor said...

Holy Emerald City, Batman! I go to Buh-thesda for a couple of days and you get a tornado in Merrie Olde England! What's the world coming to?

By the way, Buh-thesda misses you greatly. And that's all I have to say about that.

10:27 PM  
Blogger oldest kid said...

I saw a story about the London tornadoes on the news yesterday and started to worry about you, which my spouse seemed to think was stupid. When I told him today it occurred only 8 miles from your home, he reminded me that we had lived through the eye of hurrican passing right over our house, and so what's the big deal with a tornado.

3:00 AM  

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