As I was coming back from a walk with my wife along the eastern shore of Lake Minnetonka, the sirens went off. And not just in my town, also in several neighboring communities, warbling in and out of focus as the wails from different directions bounced off of buildings and other objects.
For what reason I don’t know. During tornado season, they test the sirens at 1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. I’ve more than once wondered what would happen if a tornado struck at 1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month. Would anybody take shelter?
But it was too cool to spawn a tornado (only 43°F) so I wasn’t much concerned. And as anyone who lives in tornado country knows, tornados are most likely to form in late afternoon or early evening. Sure, they can occur at other times, but less frequently. And although I’ve lived 40+ years in a tornado-prone area, I’ve never actually seen one, but I have seen funnel clouds and the eerie dark green skies that mean the conditions are ripe for one. And have gone down into basements with flashlight and portable radio numerous times when sirens have been blaring.
Which still to this day reminds me of air raid and atomic bombing drills when I was a kid in the late fifties and early sixties. Duck and cover. Under our desks if we were in class. If we happened to be in the halls between classes, the girls on the floor against the wall, the boys gallantly protecting them with our bodies. Downstairs with my parents during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the adults spoke in hushed tones and stored extra canned goods just in case.
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