I try to avoid using the word "hate" to describe things.
It is just so harsh.
And it takes a whole lot of energy to hate someone or something.
I can only think of one person but he isn't the mayor anymore so it doesn't matter can't think of anyone that I hate. There are people I could do without having to deal with, but I don't hate them.
Off of the top of my head, I can only think of two things I can say I hate.
1. Cilantro.
BLEEECH.
This junk tastes the way cleaner smells. Like, total ick. I absolutely cannot stand the stuff. It doesn't matter how little cilantro there is in a dish, I can taste it. And once I've tasted it, it seems to take forever for me to stop tasting it. I can definitely say I hate it.
2. Tornadoes.
I hate tornadoes. I hate the feeling I get when we are expecting bad weather. I hate having to worry about everyone and everything I care about because I know that all it takes is an instant for a deadly tornado to appear. I hate having to pull my sleeping babies from their beds to move them down to the basement in the middle of the night. And, I know my husband hates how I become completely stressed out because of all of the aforementioned.
Sidenote: Want to know something really weird? When we are in a tornado watch, I clean the house. Like, I speed around the entire upstairs level and pick up everything. My house is spotless before I retreat to the basement. Why? I've had many conversations with myself to try and answer that question. I've come up with this: I have control issues. I need to have some sort of control over situations I am in. Tornadoes do not allow me that control. So, the best I can do it get everything in proper order, the way I like it, before an out-of-my-control tornado blows in. Pointless? Yes, especially since a tornado having its way with my home would eliminate a need for it to be cleaned, either before or after meeting said tornado. But, the lunacy of it doesn't stop me.
I'm sure any number of you will think this is a weird post considering it is the middle of January and I live in Illinois. I should be much more concerned with snow and ice. But, alas, Southern Illinois, along with a majority of the Heartland, is in a tornado watch.
I know!
Shut the front door!
This is nonsense!
And, it is the second winter in a row!
We had tornado watches last February. We had them this past November. And now we're having them again.
Winter is supposed to be my reprieve.
I am supposed to be stressing over situations such as this:
I mean, there is no digging your ride out of that.
And when you end up with the threat of that much snow, you have to deal with the stress of this situation:
Yep, you must try to survive on only Entenmann's crumb cakes or mini-blueberry muffins.
Everyone takes everything else. Like, people hear a storm is coming and the only thought seeming to run through their heads is "Oh my god! I don't have bread or milk at home!"
Whereas, my thoughts are something more along the lines of, "Oh no! Have I put the laundry away? Does the dishwasher need emptied? I wonder when we last put all of the boys' books in alphabetical order?"
I just wish I could keep everyone safe in my basement. I may just have to start having huge slumber parties during tornado season (which, evidently, is all year round).
At one point last spring, we had ten people and two dogs in our relatively small three-quarter bath downstairs.
Ten. People. And. Two. Dogs.
Well, all of that plus a bottle of Jack Daniels. That's how The Hubs keeps his sanity.
We were in that bathroom for quite some time. And I know there were people in there with me simply because they knew I would lose my mind if they did not comply with the safety rules implemented during threats of a natural disaster.
In fact, I gave a "Thank You" speech when the tornado sirens had stopped blaring and we were in the clear. I thanked everyone for working with me and helping me to keep my sanity in a time of immense stress. I'm sure they thought I was crazy (as, no doubt, some of you will, too), but we were safe. Or at least safer than we would have been had we not been prepared for the storm...in a small bathroom...with a lot of people...and pets...
Now I'm having to stress it again. In January. This is crap. And I hate it.
Maybe, just in case we end up having to worry about severe weather, I'll let Tink sleep in that football helmet.....
Not to be argumentative, but I like storms. Oh, not the damage, I don't want anyone's stuff blown away, especially my own, but I like to stand out on the deck and watch them roll in. I think it's kind of magical. I do, however, have a healthy respect and borderline fear of lightening. No one should mess around with that stuff. You are a good writer, my dear. I enjoy your posts.
ReplyDeleteMaybe everybody should move to Virginia with me! Yes, we had a couple of tornadoes last year (not HERE but in the vicinity), but those are VERY RARE occurrences. PLUS, I have a basement just in case. And you can run around and clean my house whenever you want. I certainly don't want to stand in the way of your OCD, and I do want to be helpful. I also love that you don't HATE anybody (except maybe that person you crossed out)!
ReplyDeleteI was told that Carbondale sits in a valley and that's why all the towns around get hit by tornadoes and Cdale never does. Now I've never looked at a topographic map (I think that's the name of it) to see if this is true but it always made me feel better...especially since our house sits on a concrete slab...aka no basement!
ReplyDeleteUm, yeah... I know who you're talking about in that first sentence (except I would include our former president & vice president in there, too - but even then, HATE is such a strong word.) This post also makes me feel better, because I have always hated storms, but I thought it was just because I was from California, where we seriously don't have to worry about tornadoes (well, not before 2008 - then a freak one hit the Bay Area! But just one...) Also, I get the pre-storm cleaning, because if the sirens do go off, you don't want to be tripping over the stuff on the floor on your way to the basement!
ReplyDeleteI also have an answer to your cilantro thing: Cilantro has a chemical in it that matches up with a receptor in your tongue. So people either love cilantro or hate it. If you have this chemical in your mouth, cilantro tastes soapy and disgusting. But apparently if you don't have this thing, it's delicious! (The same is true for some other veggies, too, but I can't remember if it is parsley or cabbage. Different chemicals, but similar reaction.) Isn't science cool?!