Tornado season

You may lose an arm or a leg, but lose your head and you're dead.

This was the mantra that I lived by one Monday per month as a child. Our elementary teachers would file us into the hall, tell everyone to tuck their heads between their legs, and link our hands over our necks in protection. No talking, no moving, and keep away from the windows! This was a tornado drill.

We all knew how important these days were. We lived in Tornado Alley, where the winds were fierce and the schools were bricked/concreted/minimal windowized.

We had grown up with the chaotic summer skies, and a peculiar fascination of deadly storms. And most deadly things are beautiful. Unfortunately, it is this characteristic beauty that destroys lives in one careless moment of, "Oh, just let me see it this once!"

Let me make this perfectly clear. If you're close enough to see a tornado, then you're likely in its path, depending which way the wind blows. So if you feel the need to stand and watch destruction unfold nearby, do yourself a favor and set a camera to run instead. You never know which way the wind will blow.