Near-Death Experience #3
I left Greensboro yesterday afternoon in a rush to get to Atlanta by 8pm last night. Together with my stepmom, I had built a scheme to surprise my dad for Father's Day. It was simple enough. My stepmom was going to tell my dad to be home at a certain time, and I would be there, waiting for him when he arrived. I would say, "Surprise! Happy Father's Day!" and prepare for the great big hug that would surely ensue.
Well, I didn't take into consideration that I was about to travel to hell and back again. There's a reason that we have gut feelings. And every now and then, a certain someone/ something up there reminds us of that. I was hoping that I would get to swing by my favie's work to at least give him a hug and a kiss before I left. But as usual, I took forever to get ready, and I didn't get to give him the farewell hug that I was hoping for. I felt more distressed than usual that I was about to be leaving for 2 days without an official goodbye. I couldn't explain it, but I just felt like something bad was going to happen.
My journey started out fairly well. It was cloudy, but no rain. I hit a little traffic going through Charlotte, but after that, it wasn't too bad. Once I made it to the Spartanburg/ Greenville area, I started seeing signs for Atlanta. I then realized that I was more behind schedule than I thought, and amped up my race against the clock, trying to get there in time for the big surprise. I didn't even stop halfway for a bathroom break, because I just really wanted the surprise to work out.
Finally, I got into Georgia, thinking to myself, "If I keep up this pace, and just don't stop, I'll make it." OK, so maybe I was a little tense already. Then it started sprinkling a little. It wasn't too bad, and I could still keep up my speed. Then, all of a sudden, it was raining cats and dogs, but it only lasted a few minutes. I thought I saw a clearing in the clouds ahead, and hoped that was all it was going to do. Well, the next thing I heard on the radio was an emergency broadcast system report for a severe thunderstorm warning in Franklin County until 7:15pm.
I thought, "Hey, I'm in Franklin County..... I guess that was the storm I just passed through." Maybe if I had listened just a little harder, I would have heard someone up in the heavens scoffing at me.
So as I was going along, it was still sprinkling. Then the rain drops got a little fatter....and a little faster.....and bigger.....and faster.....and the wind started blowing....really hard! Before I knew it, rain was streaming across my windshield in sheets, like someone was putting a gray blanket over my car. The wind was blowing the trees sideways: leaves, twigs, and all kinds of debris were being tossed across the road like they were grains of sand. And marble-sized pellets of hail were pounding my car. I couldn't see a damn thing except the faint hazard lights of a car in front of me. Over and over again I prayed, "Please God, just get me to the end of this cloud, Please God, just get me to the end of this cloud."
My body was completely tense, like a cat ready to pounce on its defenseless prey. The only problem was, I was the prey, and someone else was the cat! The death grip I held on the steering wheel could not have been pried off for anything. I could hardly see two inches in front of the car, but somehow, I managed to steer my car over onto the shoulder. I saw someone else's flashing lights ahead of me on the roadside, and I cautiously inched forward towards them. Alas, I saw the outline of the bridge the other car was parked under. I have never been so happy to find a bridge in my life!
The storm continued on that way for what seemed like hours. Even under the overhang, I could feel my car shaking and shuddering from the wind. I fully expected that at any minute my car was going to be swept up into a black funnel cloud, never to be seen or heard from again. As the minutes passed by, more cars and trucks kept pulling under the bridge, until the entire area was like a parking lot. Even the cars driving in the lanes just flat out stopped in the middle of the road, blocking up traffic.
Eventually, the wind stopped, and the rain eased up. After I stopped shaking, and blinked the tears out of my eyes, I called my stepmom to let her know what had happened. As we talked, and she looked at the weather map, horns started blaring and the other cars and trucks started moving around me. After we hung up, I finally found it in me to crawl out from under the overhang.
It sprinkled for a few more miles, and pretty soon I was out from under the death cloud. As I neared Atlanta, the sun even came out. All in all, I made it to Roswell, safe and sound. Of course, I arrived at about 8:25pm, and my dad had beat me there :( Oh well, he was still surprised, but I think more confused than anything. At least I still got the great daddy bear hug, the kind that will fix anything. Before I knew it, we were all in the kitchen, laughing and drinking my dad's special blend of blood mary's.
Aaaah.... I cannot tell you how good it feels to be home (and dry, and warm, and safe, and oh yeah, alive!)
Well, I didn't take into consideration that I was about to travel to hell and back again. There's a reason that we have gut feelings. And every now and then, a certain someone/ something up there reminds us of that. I was hoping that I would get to swing by my favie's work to at least give him a hug and a kiss before I left. But as usual, I took forever to get ready, and I didn't get to give him the farewell hug that I was hoping for. I felt more distressed than usual that I was about to be leaving for 2 days without an official goodbye. I couldn't explain it, but I just felt like something bad was going to happen.
My journey started out fairly well. It was cloudy, but no rain. I hit a little traffic going through Charlotte, but after that, it wasn't too bad. Once I made it to the Spartanburg/ Greenville area, I started seeing signs for Atlanta. I then realized that I was more behind schedule than I thought, and amped up my race against the clock, trying to get there in time for the big surprise. I didn't even stop halfway for a bathroom break, because I just really wanted the surprise to work out.
Finally, I got into Georgia, thinking to myself, "If I keep up this pace, and just don't stop, I'll make it." OK, so maybe I was a little tense already. Then it started sprinkling a little. It wasn't too bad, and I could still keep up my speed. Then, all of a sudden, it was raining cats and dogs, but it only lasted a few minutes. I thought I saw a clearing in the clouds ahead, and hoped that was all it was going to do. Well, the next thing I heard on the radio was an emergency broadcast system report for a severe thunderstorm warning in Franklin County until 7:15pm.
I thought, "Hey, I'm in Franklin County..... I guess that was the storm I just passed through." Maybe if I had listened just a little harder, I would have heard someone up in the heavens scoffing at me.
So as I was going along, it was still sprinkling. Then the rain drops got a little fatter....and a little faster.....and bigger.....and faster.....and the wind started blowing....really hard! Before I knew it, rain was streaming across my windshield in sheets, like someone was putting a gray blanket over my car. The wind was blowing the trees sideways: leaves, twigs, and all kinds of debris were being tossed across the road like they were grains of sand. And marble-sized pellets of hail were pounding my car. I couldn't see a damn thing except the faint hazard lights of a car in front of me. Over and over again I prayed, "Please God, just get me to the end of this cloud, Please God, just get me to the end of this cloud."
My body was completely tense, like a cat ready to pounce on its defenseless prey. The only problem was, I was the prey, and someone else was the cat! The death grip I held on the steering wheel could not have been pried off for anything. I could hardly see two inches in front of the car, but somehow, I managed to steer my car over onto the shoulder. I saw someone else's flashing lights ahead of me on the roadside, and I cautiously inched forward towards them. Alas, I saw the outline of the bridge the other car was parked under. I have never been so happy to find a bridge in my life!
The storm continued on that way for what seemed like hours. Even under the overhang, I could feel my car shaking and shuddering from the wind. I fully expected that at any minute my car was going to be swept up into a black funnel cloud, never to be seen or heard from again. As the minutes passed by, more cars and trucks kept pulling under the bridge, until the entire area was like a parking lot. Even the cars driving in the lanes just flat out stopped in the middle of the road, blocking up traffic.
Eventually, the wind stopped, and the rain eased up. After I stopped shaking, and blinked the tears out of my eyes, I called my stepmom to let her know what had happened. As we talked, and she looked at the weather map, horns started blaring and the other cars and trucks started moving around me. After we hung up, I finally found it in me to crawl out from under the overhang.
It sprinkled for a few more miles, and pretty soon I was out from under the death cloud. As I neared Atlanta, the sun even came out. All in all, I made it to Roswell, safe and sound. Of course, I arrived at about 8:25pm, and my dad had beat me there :( Oh well, he was still surprised, but I think more confused than anything. At least I still got the great daddy bear hug, the kind that will fix anything. Before I knew it, we were all in the kitchen, laughing and drinking my dad's special blend of blood mary's.
Aaaah.... I cannot tell you how good it feels to be home (and dry, and warm, and safe, and oh yeah, alive!)
posted by Bean at
12:40 AM
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