Tornado Season!
I’m sure most of you have seen the news with images of flattened houses, schools and businesses in Moore, OK. Being an Oklahoman isn’t easy with tornado warnings so prevalent every spring that most of us know how to spot the signs without the local weather forecaster. I spent a lot of time in the little closet under our staircase when I was growing up, with my family and all of our pets – 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 turtles. I’m sure you can imagine how much fun that was! haha! My family has been very blessed to avoid major tornadic activity, but it came a little too close a few weeks ago when it was just 1 mile away from us and 1 mile away from my parents. It managed to stay on a path between both of our houses and the most damage it caused was a barn roof blowing completely off in a neighboring town (no horses or other animals were injured). Needless to say, we felt very lucky to have missed it!
The day of the tornado, I found myself glued to my computer watching the live footage of Moore and it was a seriously haunting feeling to see this mile-wide tornado from the view of a helicopter flattening everything in its path! We had no idea if it would continue up the turnpike to Tulsa or dissipate before it got here. Everyone was let out of work early, but the traffic from downtown out to the country was bumper to bumper…and there was a wreck so we all went down to one lane. What a stressful ride home with the traffic and the bad weather approaching! We didn’t want to be stuck on the highway if a tornado came through!! My husband, Ryan, was planning to record part of his band’s album, so he left a little early and headed out to the other side of town before he got a call from his band mate that he had to cancel. So, Ryan headed south to my parent’s house – where Dancer lives now – and made it there while we were still stuck in traffic just outside the city limits. He took all 3 dogs outside, turned on the weather and kept an eye on Dancer as he stood inside of the barn.
Still at least 30 minutes from home, I got a call from Ryan asking if I wanted him to go ahead and feed Dancer and close up the stall so he’d be secure in the barn for the night. (Our barn is inside Dancer’s pasture so he can walk in and out as he pleases) I had planned to do this when I got home, and because Ryan is highly allergic I hadn’t asked him to, but I said “Sure, if you think you can get him in”! Well, he called back about 15 minutes after this and said his mission was a success! Apparently, Dancer came out of the barn to see if Ryan had food and then galloped back inside to wait for him! (This hardly ever happens and Dancer is known for not wanting to stay in the barn!) Dancer followed him in with the food and he was able to shut the stall door without Dancer protesting or trying to escape. I was seriously impressed! Maybe there was a horse whisperer inside after all?
We got home and scarfed some dinner before the next round of storms blew in. I saw the break in the weather as a good opportunity to trek out to the barn with some extra hay for Dancer and a peppermint for being so good for Ryan! But when I got to the barn, something wasn’t right. Dancer was slightly agitated and I soon found out why. I looked down and saw something strange in his feed dish. Weird pellets that could only be one thing… dog food!!! Dancer gave me a look like “what is this?! you expect me to eat this??” haha! I had to laugh as I headed back to get him his real food. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it because I really did appreciate Ryan’s efforts. I know it took a lot of courage to enter Dancer’s pasture without me there and especially since he’d never actually fed him or put him in the barn by himself before! So when I got there, I quietly called Ryan in to show him the difference between the dog’s food and Dancer’s food so I didn’t embarrass him in front of the family. But, he went right in and told them what had happened anyway! After a brief pause, I heard roaring laughter – all the way back to the barn! You have to give him credit for trying, right?
We also got lucky and the storms never did reach us. But there were plenty others who weren’t so lucky yesterday. Orr Family Farm was hit hard and lost around 75-100 horses. Many other pets have been found alive and are in need of assistance. The death toll is somewhere around 24, but hundreds were injured. So many houses and schools were destroyed in that 30-mile radius. All in the area will need help to fully recover. If you’d like to do something for the people of Moore, here are a few ways to help:
Help for the animals:
The Pet Food Pantry of OKC is offering dog & cat food, leashes, collars, food bowls, etc to those in need. (405) 664-2858 – www.petfoodpantryokc.org
Red Earth Tack & Feed in OKC set up donation funds and is also taking donations for all pet supplies – http://www.clipclophorses.com/
Help for Humans:
