Tornadoes

Let me tell you about where I live. it's a city of about 93,000 people. Some of them are rich, some of them are poor, some of them are scraping by. 30,000 of us are students. Every year, when the weather gets warm, we get some storms. The tornado sirens go off sometimes, but we don't ever pay much attention to it.

One week ago today seemed like another one of those days. A storm had come through that night and thought that was it. There was something else behind it, but finals were a week away and there were bigger fish to fry.. I was sitting in my last Wednesday class when the sirens started to wail. Class dismissed. You're all free to leave, but taking shelter is recommended. I stuck around. The same thing happened the week before that.

The warning was originally until 4:45pm, then 5:30, then 5:35. The basement in the building that I was in does not like to cooperate with cell phone reception. I felt my phone vibrate and had a voice message from my dad and from my sister. When I called them back, they both said the same thing: "Stay where you are. This is about to get bad." Everyone was sitting on benches and on the floor, ducked into classrooms and standing by the door smoking cigarettes. The alarm in the building went off; "The University of Alabama is under a tornado warning. Take shelter until the storm has passed." At around 4:50, I slid into a side room in the basement. We were all huddled around the one guy with a computer that was streaming James Spann on the internet. As far back as I can remember, I've watched and listened to James Spann report on bad weather. There's something about those suspenders that make him seems trustworthy. The campus warning went off again. This time, it said that there was a tornado on the ground. It was heading toward campus. Take cover immediately. Good thing ten Hoor was built during the Cold War to double as a fallout shelter. The camera on top of the Tuscaloosa County courthouse showed us the tornado. It was on the ground. It was coming right for us. Momma called and told me to take cover. I tell my Momma that I love her every time that I talk to her. This time, I was legitimately scared that it would be the last time that I ever said it to her. James Spann keeps talking for a few more minutes. Things like "once-in-a-career storm" were heard from him. Darkness. The power goes out. Surprisingly, the two little girls in the hallway remain fairly calm. When I was that little, I didn't get off of the toilet until the sirens stopped wailing.

After a few minutes, we nervously ventured outside. I text Hannah to make sure that she was okay. No one's phones were working properly. I was nervous until she texted me back a few minutes later and said that she was fine. I started making phone calls to friends. Nothing. No response. Were my friends okay? As I ventured out of the building and started to make the hike to my apartment, all you could hear was the wail of sirens. We had heard that the hospital was hit, that the mall was hit, that entire businesses and neighborhoods were gone. This was within twenty minutes of the storm touching down. I was relieved to see that my apartment complex was safe. No electricity. I can deal with that. That just means empty the fridge and take a cold shower. I didn't know what to do, so I just started walking. Tree limbs and power lines were down. I get to the Strip. No power in Jimmy John's, but people are lined up out the door getting sandwiches in the heat and the dark.

I see Hannah. Visual confirmation that she was alright. I see Raquel. One of my best friends made it out alive. Morgan calls from Jesse's a little while later. Two more are safe and sound. We try to see some of what happened, but you couldn't get anywhere. I drive up toward the hospital. I heard it was hit and I wanted to see. There was a line of people out the emergency room door. Police wouldn't let you cross the bridge over McFarland Boulevard because of a gas leak in Alberta. Behind the hospital was Cedar Crest, one of the neighborhoods that was destroyed. I saw a girl walking away from there up Bryant Drive. She was bawling.

Not knowing what to do, I went to work. We had people lined up out the door trying to get food. We were one of the only places open. I spend the next couple of days working to keep distracted. Thursday night, my power was still out. There were rumors of looters. I live half a mile away from the affected area, but I still slept with a baseball bat. My power came back on around 4am Friday. The smoke alarm in my apartment is electric instead of battery. It beeped and I jumped up in bed. "Shit, what now?" I thought my place was on fire then remembered how it was wired up. I jump out of bed and see that the timer on my microwave and the display on my stereo are both on. "I HAVE POWER!"

When I left town Friday afternoon, I saw the view from Hargrove Road. My jaw dropped. My heart sunk. Complete neighborhoods were gone. No one in this city has ever been able to see from 2nd Avenue straight to the hospital. There were always houses and oak trees in the way. Not now. You can see all the way to the hospital. Entire neighborhoods are gone. Right now, the death toll stands at 40 people in Tuscaloosa, over 200 across Alabama as a whole and 300 across the South. We know that there will be more as they continue to dig through the rubble. I heard someone working for the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office that the search and rescue teams could still hear people screaming under the rubble. I hope they were able to dig them out in time.

Friday night was the first time that we got together after the storm. One thing that you never forget is the looks and the hugs from your family and friends when they realize that you're alright. I've never hugged my mom or sister so hard in my life. My dad told me that he was terrified when that thing hit Tuscaloosa, afraid that his oldest son was going to die. "Well, I'm alright Daddy. I'm here in the truck with you." "I know, boy." I'm 24 years old. I've never called him anything but Daddy, except the joking and occasional Timbo or Old Man. He still calls me boy. When I got to Jesse's house Friday night, my brother ran over and picked me up. "I'm so goddamn glad you're not dead." "Me too, little brother. Me too." Everyone embraced, thankful that we are alive. We toasted our beers to Tuscaloosa, "TO ONE GREAT CITY!" and to Alabama.

I've lived here for three years in August. It took some time, but I love this city. Attalla is my home first and foremost, but Tuscaloosa has become a home. I cannot describe the joy in knowing that the people that I'm friends with here are alive. A few people that I know lost some of their belongings, but that's just stuff. You can replace stuff. You can't replace people. You can't replace friendships. It's going to be a while before there is some semblance of normal here again, but we're trying.

No matter how long it takes, I love you Tuscaloosa. One Great City.

It's a regular den of iniquity in here...

To the turd that said in the Tuscaloosa News that Tuscaloosa had turned its back on God by allowing Sunday sales...Bite me. People being able to purchase alcohol on a Sunday within the Tuscaloosa city limits has no bearing on your life whatsoever. No one is forcing you or anyone else to drink.

That said, First Sunday (as I have officially dubbed it) was awesome. It was nice to go to Egan's 1) on a Sunday afternoon and 2) see the place packed from the front door to the back with people drinking, conversing, and dancing. It was a blast. Cheers to ya, Tuscaloosa!

That said, I've got a paper to write and an exam this week, both on Thursday. Also, I'm getting the damaged on my car assessed to see if it's totaled or can be repaired on Tuesday (because I was t-boned a week ago). It needs to be next week. Spring break. One week of doing absolutely nothing.

This is dumb. I'm done. I've got to write about Faulker.

Later turds.

I think my legs are getting hollow..

Creeping up on two months since I've done any writing here at the Chronicles. Let's be honest, my updates aren't very regular. I doubt that anyone that reads this gives a shit. Oh well. I don't really give a shit either.

What's new since my last post? Not much of anything other than I have a girlfriend for the first time since 2006. That (or she) is what this post will be about.

It's amazing what comes about when you drink for 15 hours straight. To backtrack, I had some messages pop up on my Facebook back in November asking if I would want to date this girl. Before I could respond, they were gone. The night of the Alabama-Mississippi State game, I was belligerently drunk and demanded that a friend of the both of us invite her over. To be honest, it was the best thing that I have demanded in quite a while.

I was drunk, she drank some of my apple juice/vodka concoction, and we listened to music for a bit.

The actual dating came about because we were drunk and figured that it was a good idea. I knew something good would come out of being drunk. I just didn't know when.

This rules. I'm not gonna lie. I haven't been stoked about anyone like this since I was 17. I really dig this girl and I'm pretty sure that she doesn't think that I suck like hell. It's really nice to have someone around that has similar opinions religiously, musically, and to some extent, politically.

Most of all, and what I think is probably most important, she just rules. I haven't been into someone like this in a long time (almost 7 years), and I'm glad that I know what this is like again. Hell, it really makes me feel young again.

This is as far as I'm going to talk about it. I don't want to get all mushy and make anyone vomit.

Oh yeah, Fall 2010 was the best semester that I've posted since I've been in college with a 3.0 GPA. It blew me the hell away. If I can keep it up for the next couple of semesters, I might graduate with a decent GPA and actually be able to do what I want to do when I graduate.

I decided that I want to teach when I finish school. I know that I wanted to get a degree in library and information science, and I still do, but I feel like I could make a more positive impact being a teacher. I remember the handful of teachers in high school and middle school that had some sort of impact on me and I want to return the favor. That and if my really shaky financial plan works out like it does in my head, I could be out of student loan debt within a couple of years. I doubt it will, but I want to try anyway.

I have two semesters left as an undergraduate. I should have graduated already, but we're all well aware of how I have taken my sweet ass time at finishing college. This semester looks like it won't be too terrible. There is a lot of work and a lot more reading, but all of the classes are enjoyable for once. A class on baseball, the American South prior to the Civil War, a class on women in Europe since 1750, a class on public opinion, and a class on the conflict between science and religion. For once, I'm excited about what I have to do for the next four months.

This, along with pretty much every other thing I post on here, is pretty goddamn pointless and retarded. I don't have anything relevant to say. I'm kinda drunk. I should go take a nap. That's actually a pretty good idea.

I managed to fix my computer and recover all of the music that was on my iPod, so the loss of music was minimal. Good thing almost all of my pictures were posted online or I would have lost all of them.

I'm taking Hannah to see Against Me! for the first time Friday. It's her first time, not mine. It will be my 8th time. I'm still just excited as I was my first time.

Yeah, I'm done. I need a goddamn nap.

Later.

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