When we built the house -- John made sure the area under our screened-in porch could do double duty as a storm shelter. It is a 10' x 20' room off our basement -- with concrete walls and a concrete ceiling.
Fortunately, we have seldom had to take cover in that room -- but we have always been pretty smug about knowing it's there when we need it.
Last week -- we needed it. There was a tornado sighting just five miles from us -- and the sirens were going off. The rain was coming down in torrential sheets -- and a black cloud was fast approaching. The Doppler Radar said a tornado would hit Princeton at 3:51 PM...
We went downstairs to our "storm shelter"...
Problem #1: John can't close the door...oops....it was blocked by two years' worth of lava flow from t-shirt mountain...(yes, he WAS annoyed...)
Problem #2: No place to sit. REALLY?? Didn't there used to be a coupla chairs in this room??
I looked around. Where are those damned chairs? Hummm... maybe behind that big Christmas tree. Could there be a chair hiding under my dozen suitcases? I doubt it. Maybe I could sit on one of the plastic tubs full of seminar samples. Me sitting on tupperware? Not the best idea...
Just then - the lights went out. Electricity is like so many other things -- you only appreciate it when IT IS NOT WORKING...
Problem #3: NO CANDLES?? No matches...?? Wow. That's a huge oversight...
John and I stood there, in cave darkness, with the storm raging outside. There could be a tornado passing right over us. I was leaning against shelves loaded with canned food (but, of course -- no can opener). John was standing against the door (t-shirt mountain could have an avalanche and pop it open again).
I kept thinking of more things we DO NOT HAVE in our storm shelter. No water, no weather radio, no batteries, no board games....
After a very quiet, uncomfortable six hours (okay -- it was about 30 minutes)...I told John that I was leaving the safety of our concrete room...
Even though I did manage to download a flashlight app on my cellphone....I couldn't stand it for one more minute.
My choice was clear. Take my chance with the tornado. Or die of boredom.
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