Tornadoes Threaten and ruin our Retreat.

With thunder rumbling in the heavens and lightening slicing the gray sky over Lake Chatuge, I keep an eye on the weather map. My radio alert has been going off every three minutes. Weather is a devil this year.

This morning when I awoke at a friend’s house, I pulled back the curtain to a beautiful day. My writer friend and I had planned a two day retreat at this lovely second home that sits high and lovely in Union County Georgia. Her screened deck looks out over blooming laurel and rounded peaks of hardwood trees in the distance. Near by, winds tossed about the tops of poplars and maples.

Those winds were the warning signs of what was to come later today. We both heeded those signs. We packed up our cars and left the mountain top.
Watching the Atlanta weather reports later in the afternoon, I was glad she and I were safe in our respective homes with our cars in our garages. Hail accompanied the storms that swept over north Georgia and we still might get more tonight. My beloved car, my Ford Hybrid, will not be dented by hail, however. It has enough bruises already.

Hiawassee, GA was part of a tornado watch and we live about eight miles away. If my house is hit, look for Rocky and me in the basement under the debris.








Written May 26, 2011