I'm guessing it's because of this city's long history with the oil business, but an awful lot of the people here appear to be transplants from Texas and Oklahoma. And even if they aren't from there, that seems to be where they find their roots. During football and basketball season every other house in our neighborhood flies OU or Texas Tech flags. Having lived here now through two Spring seasons, one thing is clear...
These people have twister envy.
I first noticed it last year when a freakish Spring thunderstorm was bearing down on the town and the local TV weatherman was absolutely giddy at the prospect we might get a tornado. Evidently one struck the town back in the 30's or 40's and that fact is hopefully trotted out every time the weather changes in the Spring.
The tornadoes last month in Alabama and the ones this week in Missouri are covered on the news here as if they're local events, often trumping the local news. Quite frankly, it's a little weird. There's always this creepy, wistful quality to the coverage, an "if only that would happen here" yearning.
The footage out of Joplin has been heartbreaking to see. And frightening. I've only ever had one brush with a tornado, back when I was visiting my cousin in Minneapolis. Suddenly one afternoon the sirens went off and it was one of the more terrifying things I've experienced. The sickly pea soup skies, the lightning and thunder and hail, the screams of the neighbors as they threw open all their windows, huddling in the cobwebs in the basement not knowing what was coming next...
No thanks. I'll take an earthquake over a tornado any day of the week. At least with an earthquake there's no warning. By the time you realize what's happening it's probably half over. And you'll more than likely be able to dig out at least some of your things, assuming you survive, and not have them thrown 60 miles away. Earthquakes are also more egalitarian. If your house is destroyed, more than likely so are all your neighbors. They don't hopscotch around, flattening one house but sparing the others.
Then again, Bakersfield is probably about as prepared for an earthquake as it is for a tornado, so maybe I should just keep my big fat mouth shut.
