We've read so many books with excellent descriptions of severe wind and storms. For the boys, however, it's usually just words when it comes to weather. They've always lived in moderately mild weather. They've never heard the wind howl, or scream, or whistle. I'm pretty sure they thought it was just rampant anthropomorphism.
Tonight, however, they've heard it whistle, and they've heard it howl. They've heard it beat against the windows, and they've heard the trees groan under the strain. The looks on the boys' faces, alone, as they realized what they were hearing, was worth every minute I've ever spent trying to explain it to them. Sometimes you've just got to experience something to make it real. The truly exciting thing, though, is that every story, every incident, came rushing back to them: Al and Harry and Shanks in the cave in the Arctic; Ma and the girls on the banks of Plum Creek; young Harvey on the Outer Banks, aboard the We're Here... all those pictures sprang to life tonight. Very cool, indeed.
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Oh, and now I'm laughing at myself! Smidge just came out to let me know he had really wanted to hear "one of the long chapters" (meaning, he'd sat in Em's room for story time with Dad tonight and missed story time with Mom in the process, and what's-up-with-that-anyway-mom!) I let him know we'd just read a short chapter tonight and would read more in the morning. Then, just as I reached to put my hand on his back to guide him back to bed, a gust of wind kicked up and actually moved the window frame that's right behind me!
I didn't jump, exactly, but I know I twitched a bit, and that motion sank in with him just as the sound of the wood creaking also reached him. He came straight up into the air, spun around and came back down in a spectacular fight-or-flight crouch. I didn't know those brown eyes could open so wide!
It was all I could do not to laugh, because it was funny. But still, that had to have been unnerving for the little guy. So I didn't laugh on the outside, and he's now tucked safely back in bed, reassured and snuggled. And now, I get to laugh, right?
Come to think of it, I think I'll go crawl under the covers, myself, and enjoy the sound of the storm from the comfort of thick, fluffy blankets!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
3 comments:
We are also hearing the wind howling. We've had a 40 degree (F) drop around here in the last 24 hours and are now below zero. Not unexpected for the Midwest, but cold nonetheless.
Thankfully, I've never been near a tornado up close, but I've often heard that the winds sound like a train. With the winds tonight, I can imagine how they would amplify to that level of strength and energy.
We had no destinations tonight, so we snuggled up, dozed at intervals, and watched science shows together.
Off to kiss the not-so-babies.
Too funny about Smidge. Enjoy the storm from your cozy bed- I am off to mine.
We are at the end of On the Banks of Plum Creek now. Yesterday Na and I snuggled on the couch and read the chapters about the blizzards and the children who froze stark stiff before their Ma and Pa could get back to town. All the while the wind was howling and snow was swirling outside. It was quite dramatic! I started to post about it and then got distracted. Maybe later. Or maybe this will be just another post that got away.
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