So as Jonathan blogged, last night he experienced his first tornado warning where we actually took shelter in the basement. Growing up in a place where tornadoes are somewhat common, it was not scary or alarming to me in the least. I am so well trained from my elementary school tornado drill days to know what to do. When I lived in Kansas, I sat on my apartment balcony with a margarita and watched a tornado that was miles and miles away (perhaps that wasn’t the smartest thing to do…) The contrast is amusing — when we lived in Arlington and Hurricane Isabel was somewhat close, I was glued to the TV set with amazement, wondering if we should do something about the entire wall of glass on the porch of our apartment. I was SHOCKED that the Watsons didn’t evacuate the Outer Banks after seeing the sunken cars on the Beach Road and the tide rising at Virginia Beach.

I do have to say that despite the storm, our evening in the basement was really peaceful and very cozy…Claire snoozing on the couch with Jonathan on the floor next to her in case she rolled off and Madeline asleep on my shoulder in the dim candlelight.