Captured

Yesterday, around these parts....was quite stormy. I have lived in Nashville my entire life. When a tornado is coming, you can smell it. Even the air changes color. Even without turning on the local weather, you can just know that you know that you know that you know..... what you know.

I have said dozens of times over the years..."it feels like a tornado".

Yesterday, not so much. The only thing really capturing my mind these past few days is Shawn, and his heart surgery next week. I have been, aloof.

So, yesterday, while the winds were brewing and the air was changing color, I was oblivious. Joe came home from work and took over with the kids while I headed out to the grocery store. I drove beneath horrific clouds (that I didn't notice). I got to the parking lot of the grocery store and wondered why people were being so weird, standing around, looking every direction. I could even see that folks had their cell phones and cameras and were taking photos. All I could really notice was a "cool" cloud....but still didn't realize what was going on. Aloof, I tell ya.

I parked and went in, did my shopping. I finished and walked out, only to notice that people were just standing around, again. They said that it had been hailing....but evidently the hail had just ceased. I didn't mind about getting wet, so I took my cart toward the car. 10 feet into my path, I began to get pummelled by hail. I bet it was a hysterical sight. I made it to the car, got the trunk open and literally tossed everything in. My goal was to get my car to some shelter....which I did, under a bank awning, one lot over. I noticed there were 2 other cars camping out there also. I got out to retrieve my beverage from the trunk, and when I opened the trunk, I saw several frozen balls of hail in the trunk and in the grocery bags. Why on earth didn't I save one to take a photo? They were so perfectly round it was if they were manufactured. Frozen balls of ice, in 60 degree weather. The hail that I touched was the size of a large grape (you know...those grapes on steroids). I showed one to the gentleman camper in the minivan near me.....we both got big eyes. He said what I always say, "it feels like a tornado".

Moments later I pulled out from under the covering of protection I had found for myself and my car. I found my way out of the parking area for this little district and got ready to make a right turn onto the highway to head home. The angle of this little road causes you to have to look very sharply over your left shoulder to be sure nothing is traveling in your path. I jerked my head to the left to see that the road was clear, and all I could see was a magnificent rainbow. The space between the clouds that the sun had found to peer through, was blinding. There were still dark clouds. It was still eery. I now realized that I was sitting all alone, in the middle of a storm. At the moment that I was about to panic, I was calmed. The moment that I almost allowed fear to take over, God's love intervened. The rainbow was so beautiful and so bright and so near....I didn't want to stop looking at it. I just sat and observed it for a while, because noone was behind me. I even let the green light pass.

Eventually at home, I saw on the news, photos of the cloud formations above the spot I was in. I couldn't believe I had been so oblivious.

Whether literally or figuratively, we are all caught in the midst of a dangerous storm from time to time. I suppose, most of the time, we are aware of the storm and we recognize that we need to seek shelter. And sometimes, the storm takes us down before we realize it was brewing right around us. I hope and pray, that for the rest of my life, I never forget to look over my shoulder, and that I will always captured by the rainbow.