The Blue After the Storm

April 23, 2026 - 6:20pm

It’s been gray and overcast today, which I honestly love. As an Arizonan living in Oklahoma now, I love the days where rain is expected. I can see through my close friend’s window how the trees ruffle their leaves with the wind picking up, and I can see the clouds moving at what feels like double their normal speed, revealing tiny bits of blue sky hiding.

“I listen to this play list all the time…” I heard Cara say. “I know every song that plays by heart.”

Her commenting on the music snapped me back to the room, mentally coming in from the sky’s happenings. She was hemming another friend’s gorgeous burgundy dress for a wedding happening tomorrow. I gave her a smile as she turned her head around to me.

I wonder how this weather could affect the wedding, I thought to myself.

6:45pm

“I do want to try to get back to give Kenny a call. I have to walk Luka too, before it rains like crazy.” I said to Cara.

“For sure, I get it!” She responded.

Our goodbyes tend to be one of those situations where it takes ten minutes to get out the door. We live nearby and see each other at least once weekly, but we still take forever to say goodbye. By the time I got to my car, it was almost 7:00pm.

7:10pm

“C’mon, Luka! Let’s walk. Quick, baby!”

It was sprinkling the tiniest drops so it wasn’t too nuts yet. I may love the rain, but it still isn’t ideal standing in. At least I could see the sun setting and enjoy some color in the sky behind the wall of gray clouds.

I had a protein shake so I didn’t even need an actual meal. I decided to hop on video with Kenny right away. We ended up talking for over an hour, with him being away at an Air Force training out of state for the last couple weeks and a couple weeks more. He showed me his most recent presentation about space wars or something way beyond my wheelhouse, and it sounded like a movie plot but apparently is actually historical. I asked him what he thought about me trying acupuncture, to which he mostly seemed indifferent and that if I want to, I should.

After catching him up about some small town gossip and how the day went on my end, I turned my attention to the clamoring on my windows. “It’s definitely hail,” I told him. The living room darkened as the clouds came over the house.

By the time I got to talking about the weather, my phone yelled at me with an alert that the tornado watch was now a warning. That’s when I signal in my mind to check the weather guy i trust not to catastrophize and to give it to us straight. His radar was up as usual, but even he was saying things like “this came on quickly” and “there’s a formation on base.”

I live ten minutes from base. “Kenny, my love, I might need to check the tornado bin and the shelter. It’s noisy out there and Mike’s saying it’s near base.”

“Okay, go deal with that, Steph. I’d rather you charge your phone and watch the weather. I’ll track it too.”

Before I knew it, it was 8:25pm and the tornado siren was going off. It was real now, as if it being on base wasn’t real enough. I started getting slammed, as my phone was charging, with group texts from the worship team and the spouse space team, and concerned friends who knew their Arizona friend lives in little old Enid and their news was catching wind of how bad it was.

I tried to text people as I could, but I was wrangling the cat into his carrier, which was successful after the fourth time; I was calming my nervous dog as he wore his walking vest but was watching me scramble gathering essentials for the shelter and definitely not getting him on a walk anytime soon. I was listening to a live video of Mike the weather guy updating about where the tornado was as I was deciding between panicking in the comfort of my home and the voice of Mike on this video, and panicking in the cold concrete cube that is our spider-infested shelter.

I was ultimately glad I didn’t need to get into the shelter. The gray sky quieted, but I could still see silent yellow strikes of lightning. It was strange to see the sky light up without the noise of thunder anymore. I texted one friend who said the storm passed me and I should be good not to get into the shelter now.

I decided to trust their judgment and my husband - talking to me through the Ring camera - agreed I should be okay staying inside. From about 9:45pm-11:30pm, I stayed up trying to calm my nervous system and my animals as well as update people. It was a strange day of cool temperatures and lovely walks in the beginning of the evening that ended with fear my house could get destroyed. Messages trickled in of a friend who lost their business, and another friend who knew someone’s second story got damaged, and others still who offered donations of clothing and food.

As I covered myself in my living room blanket - almost the same color as the dress Cara was hemming - I thanked God in gratitude I was alive and my house wasn’t damaged, and that my fur babies were okay. It didn’t take long to feel like I should drive to the church or any of the few places acting as relief shelters. I decided not to to avoid the “too many cooks in the kitchen” thing in the thick of it. I still needed to calm down anyway.

April 24, 2026 - 7:30am

I experienced the panic of a tornado actually touching down and causing destruction in our town (which is truly not common in Enid), yet you’d not realize how bad it was given the clear blue skies we had this morning. People only 15 minutes away have rubble they are sorting through, and my house is still standing. I was so close to the same trauma. On a colorful day like this morning, it was gray in a different way.