Toto where are you?

After two full weeks in Omaha we officially under our first Tornado watch of the summer. The good news, I am told, is that the spring is the real tornado season and the summer is the quiet time.

It is quite amazing how differently Midwesterners interpret "tornado watches." Here no one seems to be particularly concerned about them. I think the natives figure it is better to watch the sky and then decide. Back home I think everyone would be watching the sky, the news, listening to the radio and still be nervous. I will never forget my first experience of a Tornado Warning when I was visiting a good friend in Milwaukee. The neighborhood sirens were ringing and my friend, his family and I retreated to the basement for cover. After the dog bit someone, and there was some family commotion, we noticed that his dad was missing. A few skips bounds up the step we discovered his dad smiling away cooking bratwurst on the grill. "You can't waste a good bratwurst," he said. How funny people are indeed.

I will be sleeping a little lighter than usual tonight as the watch has been extended to 5am. Here is to hoping I don't get blown away.