Tornados and Meat Products

 25 June 2024

1119

R. Linda:

During the pandemic, everyone flocked to the markets and bought out every food item. We found ourselves buying food-to-table products from local farmers. Yes, it was expensive, but when there are not enough food items on the market shelves, you have little choice if you want to eat. The food from the farms was excellent, and we ate more healthily than we ever had.

Things did return to normal, with the only run on food items being when a nor'easter came our way. Then everybody made a bread and milk run, and if it was a hurricane, meat and meat, and more meat! 

On Sunday, the entire state was under a tornado warning—yes, something new. Everyone found this hard to believe. This tiny state has had a couple of microbursts, but nothing like the Midwest is subject to like tornados and straight-line wind bursts that flatten trees—nothing catastrophic.

So the wife, who always err on the side of caution, suggested I run to the local market and pick up food supplies, "Just in case." Mam was somewhat terrified that she'd never lived where there were tornados, and this was a scary idea that now she just might not live through one. I ran to the market, and there was nothing, I mean nothing on the shelves, so remembering the process during the pandemic, I stopped at the local farm stand near me home. I was amazed at the amount of meats offered, and I wasn't so sure any of them would go over well at home.

Here look at this:

Seems when meat supplies are down, roadkill works

I don't know where the mongoose originated, but I picked up 2 lbs. mystery meat, eyes and all. Yup, I did. When I got home, I told the ladies about the shortage at the supermarket, but I was able to procure  2 lbs. of ground beef. Yes, I lied. I took the eyes out and dumped those in the bin. I threw the plastic wrapper away and put cello wrap over the mystery fare, and with a magic marker, I wrote, 2 Lbs. Ground. And left it at that. 

Around 2 p.m., the sky had turned dark. There was a slight breeze but no rain, lightning, or thunder. Mam had the local news station on, and there was our weatherman from Denver doing the Colorado weather that he told us was really New Hampshire weather, but we knew better. 

As it happened, Sean was over in Goffstown visiting a friend who had bought a piece of land and had a trailer on it as he waited for the builder to come and create his "dream home." Denver weather said, "If you are in a trailer, you must find shelter elsewhere." The tornado was gearing up, and a black shelf cloud over Goffstown with a funnel forming. We could see it on the telly, so I rang up Sean, and he said he knew, and he and his friend were at a house next door and ready to head for the basement if things got worse. He said there was a high wind, and the lightning was fierce, but they were, for the moment, ok, except they were surrounded by trees.

I told Mam and Tonya all that, and as we were talking, the funnel dissipated upwards, but the warning was still in effect. Sean texted that everything outside was returning to calm, the breeze had died down, and the thunder had stopped. The storm was heading to Manchester. 

Oh no,  O'Hare was in Manchester visiting the museum. Right away, Tonya was on the phone ringing our eldest. He was in the basement with a bunch of smelly people, said he, in whispered tones. They were all anxious, but they were in the basement, which smelled musty and was not his cup of tea. In addition to that, someone's service dog was down there with them, whining and making everyone nervous. He said they were all blaming climate change and that Bernie Sanders wasn't crazy when he said climate change was a "huge" threat 8 years ago. 

"They are all down here saying they should have voted for Bernie. Good times down here in the cellar," he added. "Never did I think I'd be huddling in a basement because of a possible tornado near me." 

"The cloud (with what is trying to turn into a funnel) is 7 minutes away from you," Tonya told him.

"That really doesn't help, Ma. We could see the cloud when we were upstairs. The dog is sending my anxiety through the roof right now."

"The funnel isn't forming, and the cloud seems to be moving past you now. It is moving fast, they think, to the coast." Then, turning to me, she said, "Do you remember the tornados we had when we first moved up here? Me neither." She laughed at my shaking head. 

As Tonya was talking to O'Hare and trying to calm him down. Denver weather was yammering when HIS phone alert went off, which threw him for a loop. Then the city sirens started to go off (did I mention the studio is in Manchester?), and his eyes got real big. He looks at the camera and says, "We at the studio don't have a basement or many walls between us and the tornado activity. We will stay on air and see what happens." Oh good. That was encouraging -- not! 

"Yes, an jus' wat I wanna see on live telly, " Mam said, looking worried. 

I had been watching the live stream of the black shelf as it travelled over Manchester and thought the funnel was gone entirely. The thing was lifting a bit. It didn't look as threatening as it had. Meanwhile, Denver's weatherman's eyes were huge in his head as he kept chattering about tornados and the damage they do. The other weather person cut him off and said the tornado was dissolving, but it could regain strength at any time, so the watches were still in effect for the coastal communities because that's where it was; it had left Manchester rather quickly. 

Tonya had given O'Hare the all-clear, and Mam, out of nervous energy, was preparing dinner in the kitchen. 

"Watz dis?" She asked, seeing no label on the meat. 

"It be from the farm store, no labels." I lied. 

After a frightening afternoon, everyone got home safe and sound and no worse for wear. As to dinner, everyone seemed to enjoy the festival of flavours they savoured except for yours truly, who had a pop tart instead. The excuse was I was feeling a bit off from such an exciting afternoon. Uh-huh.

Gabe

Copyright © 2024 All rights reserved