Laura: Storm and other memories

“Remember? Remember, Mom, when our farmer saved us?” This was Lady A recently looking for reinforcement as she was telling our newest crew member about some storm excitement we experienced recently in Oklahoma. She accompanied this with motions of her tiny hands of how the windows of the farmer’s basement were moving in the wind.

Oh, Lady A, Mom remembers well. I remember seeing the storm as I came up over the hill out of the bottom ground and thinking it looked strange. I remember checking my radar on my phone—seriously, how did we live before mobile radar—and not being surprised it was tornadic based on what I was seeing. I was surprised, though, it was moving from north to south, not the typical direction. I remember becoming a little more alert thinking of what our next plan of action needed to be because I was not about to ride out a tornadic storm in the camper with my littles. It was decided that we would head out to our farmer’s home, but the only catch was, I had to head towards the storm.

Now if you aren’t from Oklahoma, you may or may not be surprised to learn they take their storm reporting pretty seriously. This is not just the National Weather Service recording, though they have that too. This is an actual play by play of the incredible swirling vortex that is headed your way. In my humble opinion, their enthusiasm rivaled the Super Bowl. Maybe this has always been the case, maybe it was just this station, or maybe I had never paid that close of attention prior to having offspring that I’m in charge of protecting. In the past, storms were just a thing to deal with. I used to be on the porch watching. But as a mom, and on this dark night barreling down the country road, it was a different story. Based on the excited radio chatter, I would have thought I was going to see the tornado at any moment. I was literally scoping out the ditches seeing if there were options for shelter in the event I had to go that route.

Obviously, I lived to tell the tale since you’re hearing about it. We are thankful for our farmer and family for sharing their home with us that evening as well as the fun conversation. Unfortunately, there was some home and property damage in the area, including hail and downed limbs.

Storms weren’t the only exciting memories we made down south. We also had adventures at Science Nights @ The Heights and with The Hanson Family through a local library program, digging for crystals at the salt flats, trying new pools/parks, which is always a kid favorite, and many more!

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The storm didn’t look too bad from the field. But things escalated after that!

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Some of the crystals we found at the salt flats.

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Splash down! Catching a swim along the harvest trail. Pools with slides get extra points!

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Learning about Newton’s Cradle at Science Night!

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Fruit power! Minds were blown when we powered the watch using fruit.

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Science Nights @ the Heights was a huge hit! We’re thankful for all the churches who welcome us like their own when we are on the trail!

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We got to watch the Hanson Family perform at a library program. They are Guinness World Record holders for several of their talents!

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and John Deere. Laura Haffner can be reached at laura@allaboardharvest.com.

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