Tornado!

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to see a tornado. Don't ask me why - it's some sort of sick fascination. I've even toyed with the idea of going on a 'storm chaser vacation' in the Midwest. Anyway, we don't get very many tornadoes on the West Coast and the ones we do get, thankfully, are very small. Last Thursday, while painting, I heard thunder roll over the house and looked out my window to see some dark clouds rotating a little bit. Having never seen such a rotation before, my blood started pumping faster but knew these clouds were far from being a tornado. However, I grabbed my camera and binoculars and jumped in the car regardless.The rotating continued at varying strengths as the storm moved towards the next town. I parked in a grass seed field and snapped a couple more pictures hoping a funnel would form out of these clouds when a bolt of lightning hit about 100yds from my car! Needless to say, thoughts like "What are the chances of a tornado forming in Oregon anyway?" went through my head, and seeing as my car was the highpoint amongst the grass seed fields of the Willamette Valley, I reluctantly headed home wondering if I was making a mistake. I reached home and told my wife about my experience thinking I had seen all of the excitement, but was I wrong! Here are the next morning's headlines:Ouch! Maybe next time....
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