It's been storming a lot lately. The kind of storms with shaking walls, howling wind, and radar pictures with big red lines across them. These things, they make me nervous. You know that dog your neighbor has that won't stop barking at thunder? Totally me. Funny thing though, we've always had storms here. It's the south, we have tornado sirens everywhere.We had 'severe storm drills' in school, every store and building has a planned "safe place" and I've spent many an hour in some strange hallway or "inner most room" waiting for a tornado warning to expire and so far I've never died. I was even in a car once when a tornado rolled by. I watched it suck up trees and still, I was fine. Nevertheless I am chicken little.
One stormy night at work, shaking in my boots as usual, I was talking to a friend of mine about childhood and traditions (trying to distract myself) when I suddenly remembered a book I'd read in the first grade called Thunder Cake. It was about a girl who was afraid of storms and her grandmother's tradition to make a special 'thunder cake' to comfort her. "Eureka!" I said (or I would have if i'd thought of it, and it wasn't really embarrassing) here's the thing I need to calm my freaky nerves when it storms. Busy hands and comfort food!
