With all this tornado stuff going on I am inclined to remember a few myself. If you look back you will find one of my stories about the tornado we saw while on the Custer land and while our school bus had a flat. I am not sure buy it was over close to Joy Frank's house and she may have been on the bus as well that day.
Anyway, I only remember one time when a tornado hit and really made a mess of things. It was at Tanny Olsen's house (grandparent of Jay, Jon and Jamie Olsen then Eddie, Janis, Bob and David Harris plus Tanny and Levi) and the tornado came down the creek from the west and took one barn and picked it up and smashed it across the creek to a pile of rubble. Then it came to the next barn and picked it up and then sat it back down on the foundation but turned about two feet. The next barn it came to it sucked a barn full of corn out and there was not even a rat left. Then there was the grain bin which is a round metal bin that looks like a giant tin can setting on a cement foundation. The tornado sucked all the wheat out of it then came straight at the house where Tanny and Nanny were sitting.
Now they were typical ranchers and farmers they just pulled up their chairs and sat in the garage which was an underground garage built into the side of the hill under the house. It faced the west and you could sit there safely and watch the goings on. I cannot say whether they were scared but my suspicion is they were. Tanny was taking us around showing the damage. He told us the tornado was coming right at them then suddenly jumped up and went over the house an on to the cattle pens on top of the hill where it did some limited damage.
I know this sounds crazy and my dad got mad at me one time when I said I wanted to see a tornado but I did. I really enjoyed watching those tornadoes crawling across the wheat and grass fields in the spring. There was no apparent damage but just a site to behold. Dad taught us how to look in the sky for those fingers or circulating clouds that could become a tornado. It was always amazing how you could just sit in the open prairies and watch the clouds move across the sky so majestically with the dark black and sometimes green but mostly giant white clouds shooting up in the air thousands of feet. If you could separate yourself from any danger it was absolutely gorgeous to watch. I should note to you that when you saw green and other shades of colors it typically meant there was ice or hail in the storm. Of course it was easiest to see the beauty of a storm when it was coming and before a large blanket of dark clouds and rain was on top of you.
I guess as a kid I was probably not scared enough and Mom and Dad always protected us especially when things were getting too close. I do remember one time in the cellar we could hear the roar of the tornado and that was the only time it was just a little too close for comfort.
I should also mention that thanks to my sister and her wonderful mothering nature (she gets all the credit) raised a son Richard Crow who builds, owns and runs Groundzero Storm Shelters www.groundzeroshelters.com which is the largest maker of tornado shelters in the country. Somehow those Osage roots make a difference. If you want one give me a call and I will put you in touch with Debbie. In fact if you look it up on the Internet and make the call you can ask for Debbie. There are others there but she is the best and she is my favorite sister.
One last thing and that is something my brother, Larry, told me two days ago on the phone. He said that when you are laying in the wheat fields watching the clouds that you should be careful of green piles of cow manure as that can make a good time bad. This is referring to one of my stories a few days back.
So what do you learn in the Osage?
Anyway, I only remember one time when a tornado hit and really made a mess of things. It was at Tanny Olsen's house (grandparent of Jay, Jon and Jamie Olsen then Eddie, Janis, Bob and David Harris plus Tanny and Levi) and the tornado came down the creek from the west and took one barn and picked it up and smashed it across the creek to a pile of rubble. Then it came to the next barn and picked it up and then sat it back down on the foundation but turned about two feet. The next barn it came to it sucked a barn full of corn out and there was not even a rat left. Then there was the grain bin which is a round metal bin that looks like a giant tin can setting on a cement foundation. The tornado sucked all the wheat out of it then came straight at the house where Tanny and Nanny were sitting.
I know this sounds crazy and my dad got mad at me one time when I said I wanted to see a tornado but I did. I really enjoyed watching those tornadoes crawling across the wheat and grass fields in the spring. There was no apparent damage but just a site to behold. Dad taught us how to look in the sky for those fingers or circulating clouds that could become a tornado. It was always amazing how you could just sit in the open prairies and watch the clouds move across the sky so majestically with the dark black and sometimes green but mostly giant white clouds shooting up in the air thousands of feet. If you could separate yourself from any danger it was absolutely gorgeous to watch. I should note to you that when you saw green and other shades of colors it typically meant there was ice or hail in the storm. Of course it was easiest to see the beauty of a storm when it was coming and before a large blanket of dark clouds and rain was on top of you. 
I guess as a kid I was probably not scared enough and Mom and Dad always protected us especially when things were getting too close. I do remember one time in the cellar we could hear the roar of the tornado and that was the only time it was just a little too close for comfort. I should also mention that thanks to my sister and her wonderful mothering nature (she gets all the credit) raised a son Richard Crow who builds, owns and runs Groundzero Storm Shelters www.groundzeroshelters.com which is the largest maker of tornado shelters in the country. Somehow those Osage roots make a difference. If you want one give me a call and I will put you in touch with Debbie. In fact if you look it up on the Internet and make the call you can ask for Debbie. There are others there but she is the best and she is my favorite sister.
One last thing and that is something my brother, Larry, told me two days ago on the phone. He said that when you are laying in the wheat fields watching the clouds that you should be careful of green piles of cow manure as that can make a good time bad. This is referring to one of my stories a few days back.
So what do you learn in the Osage?
- look for the beauty in things
- remember there is always danger in good looks, that reminds me of a girl I dated, HUMMMM
- Without the rains and storms in life there would be no water and no tornadoes, so be careful what you pray for
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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