Day 53 - Hurricanadoes

Yonder goes an idiot. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I watched the flashing red beacon get further away from me, as what appeared to be a Cessna 172 taxied toward the west-facing runway at the Warren County Memorial Airport. The unmistakeable sound of an airplane being pushed to full throttle confirmed what I already knew. He was taking off. The pilot in me said, "There's no way on earth I'd go with you." The fireman in me said, "I'll be seeing you again in just a minute." The wind was really whipping now, and rain drops were starting to fall. I looked to the western sky, and observed what Ryan would call a "big wall of nasty." And it was headed this way. Quickly. The little airplane came back into view as it climbed off runway. Dude, you'd better point 0-9-0, firewall it, and hope God likes you.

Standing out on the concrete pad in front of the fire station, alone, I kept a constant scan on the sky. The two-way radio on my back squawked with constant chatter. Neighboring counties rattled off reports of damage, and tornadoes on the ground. Well. I thought. It's just a matter of time until... Our frequencies started to come alive, interrupting my thought process. Right on time. Long streams of an endless different series of paired electronic alert tones rang out, alerting all Warren County's emergency personnel, and setting off the alarms on pagers, radios and base stations all across the county. "All units be advised," the dispatcher began. "Warren County is now under a tornado warning until 1430." Yeah, thanks for the freakin' bulletin.

Rain drops began to impact the ground with greater frequency. I could hear them hitting the concrete, like thousands of tiny pebbles. I turned and began to walk back to the building. Inside it, Engine 3, the fire engine that I'm assigned to drive, was visible. Gold letters spelling out the word "CENTERTOWN" were visible across the red nose of a giant red and white machine. Adorned with shiny chrome garnishings and countless red flashing lights, she sat dormant, ready for action. On the dash was a fire helmet. The helmet was positioned facing the rear, so the nickname that was displayed on the back in bold, reflective vinyl letters was plainly visible through the windshield as I approached the truck: "ROCKY."

Having traveled home for the weekend, I was no longer in pilot mode. I'm still an active volunteer fireman, and remain a part-time employee of the ambulance service, and I miss doing both of those things. Thus, once I cross the county line, I happily transition back to Firefighter/EMT mode. It's a good vacation for my brain. And now, having flashbacks of three previous tornadoes to which I had responded in Warren County, I had decided to go ahead and get ready. Yes. I'm a squirrel. Shut up. The bay door on the fire station (aka block building) was rolled up. My helmet and radio sat in the driver's seat, the rest of my turnout gear (the fireman suit) was in the rear of the cab. My enormous medical bag had also been loaded and properly secured. I had given the truck the once-over. All the proper tools were present and accounted for, and each of the vehicle's flashing warning lights functioned properly. She was ready.

Thankfully, we escaped most of the storm's wrath. And even though I personally witnessed some pretty hefty cloud rotation, no tornadoes ever touched down within our boundaries (to anyone's knowledge) and we escaped with just a few fallen trees. I was glad to not have to respond to another tornado touchdown, but it did feel good to "squirrel" again. The familiar voices on an emergency service radio, as opposed to an air traffic control frequency, were totally refreshing, and to see my helmet perched proudly on the dashboard of a fire truck once more was truly beautiful. It's funny how you don't really know just how much you truly love something, until you don't have it any moreIn other news, I was able to go with Ed again yesterday, as always, we had a ball. I learn so much from Ed, and am totally comfortable flying with him. Yesterday's trip was extra special, for reasons beknownst to a few of the readers here... Hope y'all enjoyed it. His next trip involves a trip to Montgomery, and I hope I get to tag along there too! My exposure to other aspects of aviation really makes it worthwhile to put up with the other... shall we say... "issues."

Special note: I have a swarm of loud, disgruntled banshees screaming in the background. They are lamenting my failure to properly mention them in my postings. Apparently, I mention Hailey too much. Thus, in an effort to silence this insolence, I hereby officially acknowledge, Mom, Rick, the Hellion, Daniel, and Lesley.

I also want to thank the Academy, my loyal fans, and all the little people who made this possible.

Joey