Fae Briona

Sleep well, and enjoy a wonderful day tomorrow.

It is done. They were able to place my Boy's headstone yesterday. C's sis sent me an email at almost midnight last night that I didn't see until lunch today. It looks good. It feels.... relief? I had really wanted / needed it to be installed before his birthday on Monday, and was afraid they weren't going to be able to do it because of the weather. His sis was wanting it done before his birthday as well. If the state doesn't wash away, I'll go down on Monday for his birthday, and be able to look at it first hand. 💔

More storms this evening. Areas that don't need it could get another 3" to 5" of rain tonight -- possibility of hail, high wind, and tornado here as well as flooding.

I frequently have vivid hyper-realistic dreams but some are more odd than others. Last night I had a very strange dream and vivid dream and can still remember the main details. There was a city with six sides, surrounded by walls, and at each corner a Gothic spire rose impossibly high into the sky, slowly arching over at the top until they met in the center high above the city. There was some sort of disk on top of the points of the spires -- entire thing was almost like a birdcage. I was up at the top of this structure, with five others, one of us for each spire, -- which is a place I can guarantee I'd never want to be in the waking world as I have a fear of heights -- all of us gargoyles or angles or a blend of both. I know there was a discussion and/or argument about something, but couldn't remember what when I woke up. Was difficult to see the architectural style of the city because of the height, but it seemed to be in a much older style - definitely not modern. Part of me wonders what my mind was trying to sort out or tell me. Part of me isn't sure I'd want to know.

With all the rain there's no way they have my Boy's marker out; and with all of the rain, the cemetery itself is a swamp. So.... I probably won't be able to go up on Memorial Day (his birthday) to see him. Just realized this afternoon that's Monday. I'd kind of pushed the date forward in my mind because I so wanted to be able to be there on his birthday. 😢 I'll figure out some other way to celebrate him and our time together on Monday, but it stings that I won't be able to be there as I'd hoped.

Hope your gig (and solo) goes well today.

Reminded me of this song by Paloma Faith, "Just Be". Let's get old together Let's be unhappy forever 'Cause there's no one in this world That I'd rather be unhappy with

Love how the families are mingling and getting to know one another.

oh happy happy joy joy Just got home a bit ago. More severe storms in the state this afternoon. Small, isolated cells; small doesn't mean not dangerous, and isolated just increases the chance that they will start to spin. Spent 30 minutes in the basement of my Dr.'s walk-in clinic right after work due to a tornado nearby (I stopped by to get a breathing treatment for this congestion). And this isn't even our wettest month -- that's next month. He have, unfortunately, had one flooding death in this area -- because someone drove AROUND the road barriers put there to stop people from driving into the flood waters. Not shockingly, their car stalled out. Unfortunately (but not unsurprising) the car floated off before Fire Rescue could get there. They were able to recover the submerged car a bit later and retrieve the body. DO NOT DRIVE AROUND ROAD BARRIERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! It takes a lot less water to float a car -- or even a large truck -- than most people think. And for the same rate of flow, if you double the depth of the water you quadruple it's force. WATER IS HEAVY and can exert a LOT of pressure.

Rainfall total for here for the last 36hrs was 7.50 in (19.05 cm) - some of the highest in the state. Twelve confirmed tornadoes so far, but they're still counting and separating straight-line wind damage from week tornadoes. We got VERY lucky yesterday -- no monsters formed, and one of the longest tracked managed to wind itself between the rural communities in it's path instead of through them. Haven't heard any death / injury reports. Parts of town are still underwater this evening. And more chances of rain (though low) the next four days. Edit: just got this pic from a co-worker. It's a major street on the South side of town, looking East.

Campus is closed today due to wide-spreed flooding; the County has been under a Flood Warning since 5:04am. We've had an additional 2" since midnight and it could rain for another 3 hours. Not sure on the overall totals that it will be about 6" in 24-hrs. I have co-worker who is at a friends because they couldn't get home yesterday, and another I've not heard from yet this morning that was worried about flooding last night. I'm ok, but my neighborhood is on a hill. Small tornado yesterday through a town where a couple of my cousins live, but they're ok. Update: finally heard from my co-worker. The water stopped rising before it got to her apartment door, so she's ok. Dept. Head had a couple of trees topple (probably a combination of high wind and extremely wet soil) but damage to his house is superficial.

We've been really lucky here so far. In Round 2 when the warm front moved through it fired up just to the West and North of us. Still concerned about family in NW Oklahoma. Next round is storms starting to fire up on the Texas state line in the SW part of the state that will move to the NE.

Don't worry - it speaks clearly. Probably won't read / comment on every chapter, for reasons you know, but glad to see you posting it.

Glad you're posting the story. 💖

Round 2 - tornadoes - is starting in the SW part of the state. It's very cool in this part of the state (just 64F / 18C) which is a good thing. The storms popping up at the moment are individual cells, which is what you DON'T want to see. The storms that are starting are going from small to "oh crap" very quickly. I'm hopeful that there won't be anything too severe here, but there WILL be something(s) bad in part(s) of the state. That is pretty much guaranteed. Good news is they've been saying for three days that the weather was going to be this way. It's why almost every school in Central and Southern OK was closed today, and one of the reasons we have comparably few tornado deaths. Edit: tornadoes starting to spin up to the West of us; we're OK here at the moment but I'm concerned about my parents / brother in the NW part of the state. Nothing tornadic there at the moment but lots of high wind and hail. Edit: 5 active tornado warnings in the state at the moment

Sorry you're not feeling much better. Rains have started, area of most severe weather has expanded again; going to be a long long day. Round 1 has passed. Will have a couple of hours of calm before round 2 moves in

I hope you're feeling better this morning Thorn. 💚

Not sure how far south this system is going but hope you're spared the weather.

Trust me when I say you never really want too. The woman who works the front desk sends out an email at the beginning of storm season -- primarily for the benefit of our international students, some of whom can get really freaked out by our weather -- trying to explain the difference between a "Watch" and a "Warning" and that, even in days like today, keep calm and just pay attention to the weather forecast and what the sky is looking like, as well as where the shelters on campus are and what to do if the sirens [which are essentially air-raid sirens] sound. Edit: One of the reasons a lot of schools have closed today isn't just the risk of weather today but because today is the 6th anniversary of the May 20th Moore tornado when both the Briarwood Elementary and Plaza Towers Elementary schools in Moore were hit directly, resulting in 7 deaths at Plaza towers (mostly students). That single tornado had a 17-mile / 27km long track and was, at its largest, 1.3m / 2km wide. Day ended with 24 deaths (+2 indirect deaths) and 212 injuries.

Woke up early to a weather alert on my phone and couldn't get back to sleep because of joint pain from the storms moving in. Campus here was closed last night about 11pm last night [UTC -5]; the University in Norman was closed much earlier in the afternoon. Threat risk for tornadoes and thunderstorms has increased and expanded. First Severe Thunderstorm warning has already been issued for the Panhandle. Biggest threat here sounds like it's going to be flooding -- parts of this area of the state could see 6"+ in the next 24-hrs. Max hail size has been increased from tennis-ball to baseball size. Keep all of us here in the state in your thoughts. Tornado risk in the SW part of the state is a 10/10 -- which is a category they almost never use. Severe weather here probably won't start until early afternoon, then rain will keep going through tomorrow morning early.

Hope they stay ok. This is the kind of lead-up we had to the May 3, 1999 Bridge Creek-Moore; and the May 20, 2013 Moore systems. Norman is only ~9 miles from Moore, straight line. If we get lucky, nothing big will fire off - but anything that does start to grow will grow very large, very rapidly. Ick is still wearing me out. Don't know if I should try to go in tomorrow and come home at noon, or just stay home. Home = garage; work = large structure with shelter. Thankfully, this town sits in some odd spot -- most storms seem to skirt just to the North of us or just to the South of us -- unless they're heading almost straight East.

Several schools in OKC have already cancelled classes for tomorrow, as the extreme stuff [large, long-track tornadoes] could start as early as 3pm. Main threat here is large hail (tennis ball sized) and flooding is a threat over almost the entire state. They're describing it as the worst weather day in several years. This is what parts of the state could be seeing tomorrow. It will almost certainly be a very bad day for some people.

At least Heath has admitted to himself what he wants; and Aiden has too -- but thinks it's out of reach and all still a game to Heath. Heath needs to do something to make Aiden see it's more than just a game to him.

Tomorrow is going to be an "active weather day" for most of the state [shorthand for "oh crap"]. Wish us well. Where I am is right on edge the 3 of 5 risk area (wrong edge) & the tornado threat for most of the Western half of the state is an 8 of 10. That risk fades some as you get East but doesn't go away completely. Guarantee of lots of rain and very high winds, very high risk of flooding (we've had too much rain and everything is already saturated or full), and high risk of large hail [baseball+] and "strong, long-track" tornadoes. 🌩️🌪️ Will come through in three waves and what does or doesn't happen in the first will affect how the second can be and that the third. Still want to get a small above ground shelter in the garage [space for one about 4'x8'], but that's going to take re-routing or eliminating some electrical, and possibly the attic access and for that one needs 💰

Wasn't able to read this when you first posted it because I felt like dreck. Really enjoyed this chapter, and quite a few interesting plot points being brought up. Have a feeling that the gloves will protect the loggers from direct possession, but they're not going to be able to get everyone in the town to wear a talisman.