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Apocalyptic stories and movies are full of them. Volcanos exploding. Comets hitting the Earth. Tidal waves miles high marching inland. Blood "as deep as a horse's bridle" and other horrifying visions in the Revaltion of St. John. ***SPOILER WARNING--Bear's the Forge of God has alien von Neumann devices (any mechanical device that can reproduce itself) destroying the Earth. In the sequel, we get payback by destroying their entire planetary system, a sight to see I imagine. END SPOILERS
Back to Earth: A few weeks ago I jumped in my truck and raced off to try to see a tornado that touched down less than 10 miles away in Atlanta. I think it was an F1 or F2 intensity tornado. It moved away too fast and I was too late and on the wrong side of the storm to see anything. I love tornados and would take a big risk too see one up close. What would you take a big risk to see? Or a little one? Or what would be cool to see as your "last sight" (something dramatic, mushyness is forboten!) I guess for me it would be a comet or meteor hitting the Earth or moon, any good tidal wave or a tornado.
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I have always had a sick fascination with tidal waves. I want to see one, but I don't want anyone to get hurt. Liz
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Yes, of course. i wouldn't want anyone to be hurt from a tornado I saw either. But nothing I could do could prevent that tornado from invading a neighborhood. It's morally neutral, in other words. I just want to see at least one in my lifetime. And giant waves have an awesome power and majesty, those 35'+ waves in Hawaii are awe-inspiring.
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I am from Hawaii and I have never seen a 35+ foot wave or heard anyone here claim to have seen one, but if one ever comes around I would like to see it.
Posts: 33 | Registered: Jul 2003
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Tornados are amazing and i do enjoy watching them roll through open land, as for things i would die to see one would have to be the mythical pandora's box i would love to see inside it, or a zepher, but the list goes on and on, i don't feel like listing them all.
Posts: 90 | Registered: Jul 2003
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I love watching lightning. And I don't get worried at all (well, until they strike so close to me that I can feel them before I see/hear them ).
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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As a kid, working on a construction site with my dad, I went to put a water hose back between two boards that were laying on the slope. The slope was grassy and wet and the boards were to keep cement trucks from crushing the hose as they delivered loads of concrete for the footers we were pouring that day.
I heard a shout from my Dad as I put the hose back in its safe nestle and looked up to see a concrete mixer truck that had just passed sliding back down the slope at me. I remember seeing the tires spinning, stuttering, catching, spinning and sliding, the sound of the engine roaring as the driver gave it the gas, my Dad continuing to yell (the timber of his voice turning to sawdust) and the look in the sideview mirror of the driver's eyes as he fought to get control.
I wish I could say I thought to dive or roll, but I didn't have time to think. It felt like I was paralyzed for an eternity there and as I finally got it in gear and moved, the truck came to a stop.
That was the closest I believe I ever got to seeing the end of my world. We went back to work after my Dad got back from his truck. He needed some time to himself after that, and as I grow older and get ready to have kids of my own, I think I know why.
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Yes, isn't weird the way adrenline and whatever other effects imprint every detail in your memory when witnessing traumatic events.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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My father was stationed in Fort Knox, and we lived in a small town a few miles from Brandenburg, Kentucky when it was flattenned by an F5 tornado. I was five or six, and fairly unperturbed about it, even when my favorite tree, a huge oak that two grown-ups coulsn't wrap their arms around, broke the front door.
See, one of the girls next door was visiting my sister, and the other one saw the tree swaying. Oaks that big... well, they don't usually sway .
She was knocking on the door. I went to answer it just as the tree wrapped over our house breaking the storm door. The girl wasn't hurt-- she saw it coming and got out of the way.
This never bothered me, but my older sister litterlly couldn't watch the Wizard of Oz until she was in her 20s. She had nightmares. I guess she was 12 or 13 when it happened.
Ron and I took her and her husband to see Twister in the theater. I had forgotten about her tornado trauma. She only ran to the bathroom to throw up twice. I felt rather bad about that.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Thank ya! Now and then, one just spills out the right way.
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Boon
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"if you want to see tornados take a vacation to Oklahoma for three weeks in May. You are bound to be able to see at least one"
As the resident Oklahoman (Okie) I can certainly verify that this is true. Very, very true, especially in the west-central and northernmost parts of the state. We had no fewer than 7 tornadoes in the counties surrounding us last May.
Now, don't you all wish you lived here with me?
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AJ and Boon, I lived in OKC,OK from 74 to 81 and never saw one. I could only drive the last year, though. There's no way Mom would have carted me to see a tornado. She worked for the FAA and knew how deadly they can be. Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote:Bear's the Forge of God has alien von Neumann devices (any mechanical device that can reproduce itself) destroying the Earth. In the sequel, we get payback by destroying their entire planetary system, a sight to see I imagine.
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"AJ and Boon, I lived in OKC,OK from 74 to 81 and never saw one."
On a friday night in September 1991, I was watching a high school football game in Washita County, Oklahoma. In the distance, beyond the field, you could see four funnels stretching their dark fingers down to the ground. They were only about 25 miles away.
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Well, it's a little late now, but in addition to OKC you should hang out around Lubbock some. The 10th floor of the Architecture building is a lovely place to watch storms from, and possibly (just possibly) catch a pretty good glimpse of a tornado. I've seen a few in my 5 years here, without actually meaning to. They're just... there.
I like to imagine it's pleasant to watch them around here, because the only likely debris they're tossing around is fences, barns, and perhaps the odd cow. It's rarely enough houses, cars and, worst of all, people.
I don't think I would mind being very close to a waterspout, but I think I'll pass on being any closer to tornadoes than I already have been.
Feyd Baron, DoC
Who is going to live in a tornado-free environment.
Posts: 1000 | Registered: Dec 2000
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Some interesting posts, just as I'd hoped. Ae, I edited some spoiler warnings. But I was very general and I thought it was covered on the book jackets. I could be wrong. Boon, I would have loved to have seen those four tornados. Mauibabe, thanks for the link to a great picture of "Jaws." That would make a great poster. Feyd, that's really what I'd like: a good view of a tornado from an ideal viewing platform. Zoia, that reminds me why I never SCUBA'ed. I would have made the water a little warmer near me.
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