Mushrooms and Tornadoes

It was a static spring day in 2008. The air was full of moisture and our sacks were full of the elusive morel mushrooms. My mom, dad, mamaw, papaw, and I were mushroom hunting in Pennyrile State Park. We had parked the car on the side of the road and hiked into the woods, always watching the ground in hopes of spying the cap of a morel peaking out from the leaves. After a while, my grandparents got tired and went back to the vehicle, but nothing could stop my parents and I.

We stopped near a bluff to take a closer look around, and I happened to stumble upon a patch of mushrooms growing sideways directly out of a mossy rock. It as very pleasant surprise, but as we were celebrating the find, we got a surprise that was much less happy. The wind picked up, rain began to drip, and lightning flashed across the sky. We quickly ran up under the bluff for protection in hopes that the storm would blow over quickly. It was complete madness; Mother Nature must have been upset at someone, because I have never been witness to that much lightning or heard the wind roar that loud. During the climax of the storm, I could tell by my parents body language that they were very worried, and there is no telling how frightened my grandparents were for us back at the truck.

The storm finally passed, and we tucked our tails all the way back to the truck. My grandparents were very relieved to see us, and we proceeded to pack into the truck and head home. Just one mile from where we were so much hail had fallen that it looked like snow and trees were completely uprooted. We later found out that a tornado had been on the ground. I felt like a warrior; I had survived in the middle of the woods with a tornado blowing in the distance. Looking back on the event, it's interesting because the storm completely came out of nowhere (because trust me, the Kellers don't leave the house without checking the radar). We didn't expect it, so we had think on our toes and take action in the most efficient way possible given our surroundings. It's a story I will always tell when I want people to think I'm totally hardcore.