We've been under tornado watches and warnings as the lines of severe storms pelted downtown Chattanooga with golf-ball sized hail then moved through the Ocoee Gorge and quickly descended into Murphy. We put our sneakers back on, kept flashlights and cell phones nearby in case we needed to head down to the crawl space. The first line of storms hit downtown Murphy missing us. As we monitored the fire radio, we heard rescue units reporting tornado damage at Ingles (our grocery store), Doyles Restaurant, Brothers' Restaurant, a car crushed by fallen trees, and people trapped in their homes from the storm damage. A second severe storm passed along the same route only minutes later doing more damage to an already weakened area. Reports of storm and tornado damage are still coming in and we are in for storms all through the night until this front passes through.
Some days are full of doing tasks and chores that Cliff did for me. The floor wasn't that dirty but he enjoyed saying. "Guess I need to pull out the vacuum. I'm tripping over debris." I thanked him. Whenever I was in the kitchen trying out new recipes, making cookies or the double batch tapioca pudding for him, he was there beside (getting in my way sometimes) washing the utensils, pots/pans, cutting boards, drying them and putting everything back in their proper places only to have me take some things back out and reuse again. "I just washed that" he would state. He learned to ask if I were through with things before he cleaned up after me. I thanked him. He emptied the dishwasher when it was finished in such an orderly manner (getting in my way sometimes because I was also in the kitchen working but he wanted to be there with me). I thanked him. Every morning he made my bed reminding me of the order that the pillows needed to be placed. John&
Comments