And the band played on...sort of posted 4/11/2009 5:11:26 PM | 2 kudos what's this?     report abuse tagged: tornado, music

stickshiftsally

Last night, we had yet another bout of bad weather here in Alabama. I had been sleeping soundly in my recliner, when my sister called and asked if I knew I was under a tornado warning. Not a watch, mind you, a warning! I was not aware, though the tv was on and the local weather man was telling us all about it, so I took stock of where my pets were and decided that it would be best for us all to stay downstairs until the danger had passed. After nearly two hours of nonstop local weather broadcasts, four separate warnings of impending and immediate disaster, a bunch of wind and some hail pecking on my fireplace, I had gotten really bored. At this point I decided that I would play the piano. Now I am not a concert pianist. In fact, I don't even read music, but I love to play and can play nearly any "old timey" hymn ever written. (Maybe not to the standard of professionals, but enough to satisfy myself.) Playing relaxes me and calms my frazzled nerves, so this seemed like a good idea to pass the time. (And the piano is in very close proximity to the bathroom where I would flee along with my cat and dog if "the big one" were to come knocking on my door.) After I had played about 4 or 5 songs, I paused before the next one just long enough to hear the tornado siren blaring again. I waited for a couple of minutes and decided to continue playing. As I fell under the spell of "The Old Rugged Cross", something occured to me. Was I subconsiously reinacting the last minutes of the Titanic where the band "played on" until their deaths? The thought was a little unsettling to begin with, but I continued to play until the bad weather had passed over my area. When I finally stopped, I noticed that my furry babies were both laying right next to my feet. When I stopped playing, they got up and went to their respective pet beds. I always thought my playing probably tortured my animals, but maybe, just maybe they were finding comfort in the music, too.

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Blogs by stickshiftsally: Love, Death and Disapointment Father's Day from a different perspective Five generations of kisses An unusual dilemma And the band played on...sort of Kids Say the Darndest Things Dogs and babies Boys will be boys He's Going Home! Update on my little miracle