70 and Clear...or Not!

My go-to guy is fired. For now anyway. He's been a part of my life since I can't even remember when. In Maryville, many of you remember we didn't have to dial the 582 part of phone numbers, just 8-followed by the last 4 numbers. For so long, no one had a 562 number. The ONLY one I knew was my go-to guy...the time and temp guy. He's been a part of my life nearly every day, and my children could dial his number as soon as they could count.

But he let us down last night. I don't know if he is always right, but I do know that he has been relatively right enough to keep calling for 30+ years.

So Tye had begged me to sleep outside in the tent when we had our family campout. I conned him into waiting until Father's Day, and maybe we could start a tradition. He remembered!...and asked me yesterday, and so started a chain of events.

Starting with Rachel calling the time and temp guy...tonight, 70 and clear. We know what he said because we called him a few times, and Amberlea called him back in the middle of the night just to be sure Rachel had called the right guy.

Why, you might ask? Because somehow, Missouri has stolen the identity of Seattle, or maybe even the Amazon rainforest, in the fact that it rains basically E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E day! So once we finally settled down for a summer night's rest, in heat that was surely above 70, the events went something like this.

It is too hot to sleep.
Let's watch a movie first.
Head outside, it feels a little cooler. It is almost midnight by now.
Wow, the stars are beautiful. Definitely a clear night.
Hot, still very hot.
Fine, Tye, stop whining, I'll get a fan.
Extension cord in place, small table fan attached and rotating in the tent.
Ahh, it's the good life.
Everyone is sleeping, I am still hot.
I can see the sky through the open window screens.
I really miss Brian.
Really.
Really.
Really.
Finally I doze off.
I open my eyes to a few flashes.
That seriously can't be lightning, can it?
70 and clear, 70 and clear.
Close my eyes.
Flash.
Yep, it is definitely lightning.
But I can still see those stars. Maybe it will pass.
Doze off again.
Flash, bang, boom.
Ok, maybe not.
So do I wake them all, or take the chance of being struck by lightning?
Hmmm...
Let's see, my track record for life is not so great.
I have a target painted on my back.
Did I mention that I had to buy a $2000 air conditioner a few weeks ago.
I close my eyes, thinking that I don't remember the time and temp guy being this wrong.
I glance up at the stars. I can't see them because there are clouds coming in quickly.
Wham...it just cuts lose raining.
Snap, I'm on my feet and trying to decide just what to do.
Still 3 sleeping kids.
In a second it started to feel like an all out storm, and my common sense kicked in.
Rachel and Amberlea were up in an instant, Amberlea was scared to death.
Please God, don't let them get struck by lightning running from the tent to the house.
The tent was right beside the house.
Still, that target lurks.
So Rachel went first and kept the door open for Amberlea.
Tye came shortly after.
Then I went, and had to zip the tent closed again.
Whew, we're all in.
Kaboom, the lightning and thunder and rain is wild, the wind is blowing like crazy.
I look at the clock and it is 2:15.
Amberlea looks at Rachel and says...70 and clear, huh?!?!
So Rachel called and checked, and then so did Amberlea.
Amberlea was quite surprised that he hadn't at least said there was a 10% chance of rain or something.
We were all perplexed that our beloved time and temp guy missed this one.
Oh well, he's still on speed dial.

Rachel headed straight to bed and Amberlea and Tye crawled in bed with me. Amberlea talked 90 miles an hour for the next 30 minutes. I wish I would have had a pencil and paper to just jot down the crazy things that run through her head!