July 22, 2020 6:00pm
If you live anywhere in the Central New Jersey area tonight you would be lucky enough to experience the intense thunderstorm that quickly over took this beautiful sunny 95 degree day and made it it’s bitch. I saw the storm brewing as I was driving home but was not expecting for it to be as severe as it turned out to be. As I was about 5 minutes from my house the sky opened up and I knew that I was in for it when I had to let Lucy out.
I have to admit that the intense wind, heavy rain and severe lightning was something that brings me back to the move “Night of the Twisters” as a kid. I remember having to read the book in Elementary school and then we had watched the movie in class as if reading it wasn’t scary enough then we had to visually see it as well. Living in Central New Jersey most of my life we have never had to experience any tornado like weather so this movie traumatized me from the moment I saw it. Heavy howling wind, torrential rain, houses getting destroyed, people getting stuck under over turned cars and cows flying through the air sound absolutely terrifying. To my friends in the Mid-West the tornado test alarms going off the first Tuesday of every month are just a friendly reminder to be mindful and alert but to me, I drop to the ground!
Now I love Lucy more than anything but will admit that having a dog that has to go outside in the middle of a heavy thunderstorm is one of my least favorite tasks to complete as a Doggie Mommy. However when I got home I knew she had to at least go pee after the long day so I put her leash on, zipped up my raincoat and outside we went! As quickly as she peed she bailed on the second act due to the conditions and we sprinted back in the house safely.
As the storm continued on I was watching the live weather report while sitting at the table eating dinner. Quickly as the wind picked up even more fierce than it was before I noticed that the Somerset area of where Mom and Dad live was highlighted on the Doppler radar in a bright shade of maroon, meaning the most intense. Not even a minute later by phone goes off with a text from my Mom to our girls group text informing us all that John almost got struck by lighting and as scary as this news was the text was classic. Yes like all of you my first reaction was, why the hell was he outside to begin with? Answer: Layla.
Dad and I talk every night to check in and see how the day was, I call it our Covid Conovs. I missed his call last night so I called him earlier today while I was at work just to check in. In the background I hear a sweeping sound and I ask him what he is doing and he replies that he is mopping the floor with the new Swiffer Mom got him. He takes great pride in how well (Mom will debate said “well” level) cleans the house on a daily basis and especially his floor cleaning pride.
So after getting this text tonight I made it a point to set aside extra time for tonight’s Covid Convo to discuss the event. As I ask him about what happend you can hear in his voice that he was shaken and I truly felt bad, until he finished the story and then I had to laugh.
Story as told by John Dorell:
“Ladybug I’ll tell you what this storm is crazy and the rain is just coming down! My Little Girl didn’t go poop all day and of course right before the storm got really nasty she had to go so I opened the door and out she went. As I watched from the sliding door I saw her squat and knew it was over, I had to go out and get it. I put my hat on and grab the pooper scooper and head over to the pile. As I am walking out Layla passes me and walks back onto the deck to wait by the open door. All of a sudden out of no where this lighting bolt strikes the ground and the crack of the thunder followed not even a second after. I dropped the rake and shovel and ran like hell into the house! When I got into the house Layla had already sprinted in to Mom and was shaking, she was scared and must have thought I was a gonner.”
After hearing this story I ask him where the pooper scooper was and he replied simply, “In the yard. It will have to wait.” Oh. Okay, now it will have to wait after almost getting taken out by a lightning bolt while holding two metal rods in the middle of a sever thunderstorm. Mom claims, “Oh man, I never saw him move so fast.” After over 30 years of marriage sadly I believe her.
If you have a dog you can relate to the events that all pet parents had to go through on a night like tonight. Being a pet parent means sacrificing your life for the sake of your hardwood floors and carpets. It means zipping up a rain coat and saddling up your furry friend and heading face first into the the perfect storm, lacing up your snow boots and taking on the blizzard with your sled dog to avoid having to break out the Resolve Stain Lifter and Bissell steam cleaner. Tonight John was faced with the true test of soiling the freshly cleaned hardwood floors or running between the raindrops with Layla for a potty break. He picked option #2… Literally.
Stay safe all and when in doubt pull a JD and “Run like hell”.
