Maybe tornadoes aren't so bad

When the wind started blowing today, I was more annoyed than anything.  There's wind in Louisiana like this - it's called a hurricane!  Just a regular old Thursday in Oklahoma.  Winds were blowing from the West about 30-40 mph with gusts in the 60's & 70's.

I had to stop at Lowe's on the way home.  I called T to make sure that I had everything on my list and he said that there must be a grass fire somewhere because he was driving through smoke.  But it appeared to more towards McCloud (east of Harrah).

I did my shopping.  I cursed the wind trying to drive home.  I noticed some smoke in some areas but nothing near Harrah.  I wasn't even close to imaging what I was going to come home to.  I walked in the door expecting to start dinner.  T jumped up and asked me if I had to drive through smoke to get home.

Not knowing what he was talking about, I sat down to watch the breaking news coverage.  What was going on?  Basically a string of wildfires was burning from just east of the Lowe's I was shopping at to Choctaw (the town due west of Harrah).  With the winds blowing 20-30 mph, it seemed to be just a matter of time before it got to us.

So instead of just watching horrifically, we started packing up the house.  First we got all the important papers, including the homeowners insurance information, and Rufus.  Then we got basic clothes and my expensive jewelry.  Then I started grabbing things that can't be replaced - old family photos, handmade quilts, crochet pieces.  We packed clothes and toiletries.

I was walking through the house deciding what was important enough to take and what I was ok with never seeing again.  It's really quite an odd feeling.  When you evacuate for a hurricane, normally the sky is blue and you're expecting to come back after a couple of days to just some wind and rain damage.  

As I was walking through the house, I could smell the smoke outside.  After watching so many houses just burn right to the ground on the news, I knew that if it got here, everything would be gone.  The firefighting efforts are at stopping the fire front, not saving individual homes.

So we slowly packed our most important things into the car.  I got stuff together for the dogs.  I took some pictures off the wall to bring with us.  I sat down to take a break and catch my breath.  T asked if there was anything I wanted to take that hadn't gotten yet.  I said my wedding dress - it couldn't be replaced.  He got it down from the top of the closet and it's now in the back of my car.

I sent texts to friends and co-workers.  Are you ok?  Can we come to your house if we have to leave?  I made all the plans I could make.  T took pictures of all the rooms in the house for insurance purposes.  He told our neighbors of our plans.  They didn't seem phased by the events occurring. 

The fire has come as close as 4 miles to the due west of us.  But the winds seem to have shifted.  I'm not ready to give this the all clear.  T has relaxed, but I just can't yet.  The air is no longer thick with smoke, because the winds have shifted.  But I'm still worried.

It's 10:30 pm and I'm fully dressed.  I'm afraid to take my shoes off and maybe not be prepared for something.  I've got the map in the front of the phonebook and am using it to track the fire.  I'm not sure if I'm going to sleep anytime soon.

I'll update in the morning.  This sucks.