What's That Sound

I don't care if you live with a tribe of never before discovered people, there are certain sounds of the modern world that will make your brain click that you are in danger.

Take for instance the sound of a pump shotgun chambering a shell. That sound is so distinct that if you have never heard it before, it will still stop you in your tracks. It triggers that alarm in your brain that tells you danger, danger.

The first time I ever heard a tornado siren I was in my mid twenties, working a water leak late one night for the city I was currently employed at.  A storm was rolling in and I was trying to work as fast as possible. That is when the sirens went off. Like I said, I have never heard them before and did not know what that loud high pitched sound was but I knew I was in danger. I remember panic set in because the sound was so deafening and I did not know what to do. All I wanted to do was get away from it. I remember trying to just run but then thinking I had my truck there so I ran back to it. I didn't know where to drive, I actually drove in circles not knowing where to go. The sound was so loud is completely screwed up all rational thought. It was only until the next day I knew what the sound meant.   

Yesterday evening a lot of tornadoes touched down in the DFW area. Many homes and businesses were lost. I work right in the middle of all that mess. I was up on a new bridge we are building watching the storms roll in knowing the danger they had in store for us. I was fine until the tornado sirens went off. Instant panic shot through me. That sound, so loud, I was wanting to duck and cover just from it alone. I could have stayed up on that bridge the whole time taking pictures of the funnel clouds dancing all around but that noise made me take cover.
On my way to the nearest solid structure, I called the wife. The storms had already wrapped around the metroplex and was heading for my little town. She was bugging out as we talked on the phone. Being over an hour away, at least I knew she would be safe at the tornado bug out location we set up last year.

Our house is still standing this morning. I am thankful the storms split around and spared our little town. It is sad others did not fair so well.