Auntie Em! Auntie Em!

Two years ago today the city of Joplin in our flyover state was devastated by a tornado, the fifth deadliest since 1900.

We felt their pain then and we feel for those poor people in Oklahoma who suffer the effects of Monday’s EF-5 tornado.

We know about tornadoes here. We take them very seriously.

This image from “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) was always very scary to me growing up because it was true-to-life.

Every time I look at the sky and it looks like this:

my heart does a little flip flop. We keep an eye on the sky.

2 p.m. in the afternoon yesterday

Things look worse. But then, usually,

things look better. But not always. Plenty of times we have taken to the basement.

I remember once at school when I was in the fourth grade or so, we filed down to the lowest level and sat along the wall on the terrazzo floors and waited. I remember being really worried–not about myself, because I figured I was safe downstairs with the rest of my school. But I just knew my mother at home was ignoring the sirens. And probably not only ignoring them, she was no doubt outside looking up at the sky, daring the weather gods, hoping to get a good look at this tornado. After all, she was not originally from the Midwest–what did she know? I was really worried.

I’m sure I told her so when I got home. I’m sure she laughed.

Many’s the time when the sky looked threatening and greenish and we all would run outside and yell, “Auntie Em! Auntie Em!” We learned that from our mother. But she also taught us when to take the sirens seriously and go downstairs.

That’s the trick in life. Knowing the difference.