Lottawatah Fireworks!

 

We are proud to announce the publication of the 10th Brianna Sullivan Mystery, Lottawatah Fireworks. A novella-length story, Lottawatah Fireworks continues the spooky, yet funny saga of reluctant psychic Brianna Sullivan, who planned to travel the country in her motor home looking for adventure, but unexpectedly ended up in Lottawatah, a small town in Oklahoma.

In Lottawatah Fireworks, Brianna's fiancé surprises her by buying a ramshackle hunting lodge, ready to call it home. The cabin comes complete with no plumbing, no electricity, and the ghost of a recent murder victim. It's up to Brianna to find the truth of who killed the man and why. In the process, the bonds of friends and family are sorely tested. Visit Lottawatah for mysteries, love, laughter, romance and all the ghosts you can shake a stick at.

Excerpt from Lottawatah Fireworks:

 

"You're gonna love it." 

That was at least the tenth time he'd said that and I didn't believe him anymore than I had the first nine times. 

I wish I could have had more faith in his reassurances, but I was too pissed at Cooper to do much more than grunt at his enthusiastic tour guide spiel. Yesterday, while I was off in the wilds with his mother and great aunt, Cooper had bought an adjoining plot of land where he proposed to build our dream home. He had bought this land, forty godforsaken acres, sight unseen by me. Bought this land despite the fact that, as my old next door neighbor Molly Goldstein, who I think was 120, used to say, it was in Yenavelte. Mrs. Goldstein spoke Yiddish, made the best Matzoh Ball soup in the world, or at least in all of Chicago, and most of all, understood that nobody wanted to live in Yenavelte, the middle of nowhere, most of all not me, her little Brianna, who was such a Shaineh Maidel, pretty girl. 

I loved Mrs. Goldstein. Cooper Jackson, not so much. 

He kept repeating how much I was going to love the location (I repeat Yenavelte); enjoy the large pond full of catfish (yeah right); delight in the acres where we could run some cattle. I actually laughed out loud at the last one. Only thing I knew about cows is they made cow patties and I had stepped in one on a visit to a friend of Cooper's. The smell alone was enough to make me a vegetarian. I'd had to throw out the shoes. 

He was still talking. "Those blackberry bushes that my Great Aunt likes so much...." He took one hand off the wheel and turned me sideways. "They're just about 5 miles that way as the crow flies." 

"Wonderful." It was clear he didn't have a clue about what I wanted. I thought we'd end up in a nice little bungalow in Lottawatah proper, if there is such a thing as a proper Lottawatah. Or a lake lot if we could afford it. Jack Fulsom had offered us a deal on one of the lots in his development by Lake Eufaula. And instead, Rest in Peace Mrs. Goldstein, I was in Yenavelte. So what if he'd spent summers with his genetically-challenged second cousins just down the road.  

After traveling the same dirt road that I'd been on yesterday, Cooper made a sharp right just before we got to the place Sassy had parked the Cadillac for the berry picking expedition. He stopped and got out of the truck, unhooking the gate of a barbed-wire fence.  

We bounced along a well-worn dirt track for about two miles when Cooper pulled up in front of a large, rambling shack, and I'm using that term very lightly. It did have four walls, but the front door was hanging off the hinges, no window had any glass panes, and the piece de resistance was the antlers hanging above the entry. Welcome Home. 

Cooper bounded out of the truck like a little kid about to enter the Magic Kingdom. 

"Brianna, old man Barnicle...you know the guy who owns the gunsmith shop in town?" 

"No." I didn't have a clue who he was talking about. And didn't really care. 

"Barnicle's Gun Repair. It's a block down from Tiny's. Has an old ship's cannon by the door. Puts a stuffed pirate out there on top of it at Halloween." 

"No." It dawned on me that for some reason it was important to Cooper that I know where that damn gun shop was. Like if he could just get me to acknowledge the store, he'd feel free to continue his explanation of why he'd made such a foolish mistake in buying this place. 

He stared at me in consternation. "Come on! You must have seen it. There's a fruit stand across the street." 

Wonder if they sold blackberries? I couldn't stand any more of this conversation. This insignificant chatter that avoided the main event; the discussion about why we were in this spot right now. 

"Oh, yeah. That gun shop." I lied. But better the sin of a lie than the homicide I was contemplating.  

Cooper smiled, satisfied enough to move on. "Brianna, old man Barnicle was practically giving this property away. He used it as a hunting lodge, but his arthritis is getting so bad, he just can't handle the upkeep."  

I think a sound exited my mouth, but I'm not sure. I couldn't focus on anything but the fact he'd purchased this place without talking to me first. 

"What do you think?" 

I'm sure Cooper really didn't want to know what I thought. I was still choosing my words when he swept me up and carried me across the threshold, such as it were. 

And past the threshold? Not good. It wasn't much to look at. And what was there was hard to see in the dim light. I glanced around the main living area. On a positive note the back part of the lodge was better lit. The sun was peeking through the huge hole in the roof, illuminating all the trash piled up on the floor.  

My mind slipped past his last question and went back to his statement about poor arthritic Mr. Barnicle and his reasons for selling. "Upkeep? What was he keeping up?" 

Cooper somewhat unceremoniously put me down. 

"Use your imagination, Brianna." His tone expressed his annoyance with me. "This house isn't staying. The land's what's important. We'll knock down the house and build us a new one." 

Yeah. Okay. I took a breath. "A new one that has wood flooring?" 

Cooper grinned. "Not at first." 

I headed for the door.  

He grabbed me, pulled me close, and gave me a quick kiss. "I'm kidding, of course, it's going to have a floor, even indoor plumbing. Might spring for electricity." 

"Hey!" I pushed at his chest. "Do I really look like a country girl to you?" 

He laughed and swung me around. I could almost catch his enthusiasm. I might even have cracked a smile, except for the young man sitting on the floor in the corner of the room. He wasn't nearly as excited as Cooper about our moving in. Of course, he was dead, and from the looks of it, had died in that very spot, a big hunting knife sticking out of his gut. 

I could see faint stains on the floor. Blood. The murder wasn't that old. The ghost nodded to me and then said quite firmly, "You're not welcome here. Get out!" 

Oh goody. No doors, no roof, no toilets, and a resident angry ghost. Yeah, there's no place like home.

 

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For more read LOTTAWATAH FIREWORKS.

 

Evelyn David

 

 

Sullivan Investigations Mystery
Murder Off the Books Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback 
Murder Doubles Back Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

 

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Fireworks - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah - trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 - I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 - A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)
Book 3 - Lottawatah Fireworks (includes the 8th, 9th, and 10th Brianna e-books)

Zoned for Murder - stand-alone mystery

Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
Trade Paperback

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Getting Back on Track

By Evelyn David

It's easy….way too easy…to get de-railed.

Over the last two months, heavy day-job responsibilities, family illnesses and celebrations, the holidays, you name it, and the two halves of Evelyn David have had trouble composing coherent grocery lists, let alone creating murder and mayhem.

It's not that I think 2013 is going to be any easier or less complicated. Life is often like a roller coaster, slow, sometimes an excruciatingly measured climb upward; perhaps a whiplash turn or two; then a calm, level track with no dips or slips and the temptation to relax and just coast along; and then a dizzying, stomach-dropping, but possibly exhilarating ride down. And then it starts again.

So no, I don't suppose or even want our lives to get less complex. But the last couple of months of creative indolence have taught me what every successful writer has said countless times. You've just got to park your bottom in a chair and DO IT.

Anne Lamott, one of my favorite writers, in her brilliant book on writing, Bird By Bird, talks about the creative process. I find it reassuring – a lifeline when I don't think there are any words I could possibly put down on paper that would tempt a reader to enter my make-believe worlds. But Lamott reassures me – and then makes me laugh:

“I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her. (Although when I mentioned this to my priest friend Tom, he said that you can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.)”

So we're back in the saddle again (a worn cliché, but heck the Southern half is from Oklahoma, home of The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum). We have already had multiple conversations about upping the danger quotient in this novel. The stakes have to be high in order for the reader to care what happens. So far, we've got one heart-stopping car accident, one fatal robbery, and a drive-by-shooting – so I think we're definitely back in murder and mayhem central.

 I know writers who have daily word goals – and I sorta, kinda do, but you know, life sometimes has a way of moving those goalposts. Instead my resolution for 2013 is to buckle my seatbelt, it's apt to be a bumpy ride – and write, revise, edit, delete, but most of all, to reengage my creative self in the wonderful world of make-believe.

Happy, Healthy, Have-Fun-Writing New Year.

 

Marian, the Northern half of Evelyn David

 

A Reason to Give Thanks includes: Giving Thanks in Lottawatah, Bah, Humbug in Lottawatah, Moonlighting at the Mall, The Fortune Teller's Face, A Reason to Give Thanks, Sneak Peek – Murder Off the Books, Sneak Peek – I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries
A Reason to Give Thanks
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords

 

Sullivan Investigations Mystery
Murder Off the Books Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback 
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

 

 

Zoned for Murder
Kindle Trade Paperback

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah - trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 - I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 - A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Creating Lottawatah

 

Despite what readers from eastern Oklahoma believe, Lottawatah, Oklahoma doesn't exist except in the Brianna Sullivan Mysteries series. I've given several library talks concerning the reluctant psychic stuck in a small town, adjacent to Lake Eufaula, just south of Interstate Highway I-40. Everyone thinks they know exactly where it is, some are certain that they've been there.

But, really guys, Lottawatah doesn't exist. I made it up. Well, sort of. There is a road named "Lotawatah" (note: we changed the spelling so we'd have deniability in the case any angry Lotawatahians showed up, offended and seeking compensation for the pain and suffering our portrayal of his/her road had allegedly caused.) 

Anyway, the real Lotawatah Road intersects I-40 a few miles west of the lake. Anyone who has driven I-40 east from Oklahoma City to Ft. Smith, Arkansas has seen the road sign. I've driven by it hundreds of times. I loved the name, I loved saying the word. And believe me, if an author loves something, it's going to show up in a book.

My co-author and I have written nine Brianna Sullivan Mysteries. The first book in the series, I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries, had psychic Brianna stopping in Lottawatah for gas and fried pies – not in that order. A ghost hopped in her motor home, begging for her help with a kidnapping. Brianna made the mistake of trying to convey that information to the local police, met the surly but handsome Cooper Jackson, and the rest is history.

Creating the town of Lottawatah was done one or two businesses at a time per book. As you leave I-40 and drive into Lottawatah proper, you'll pass by Tiny's Diner. It's your typical small town diner; abeit a little more rundown than most.

Good EATS…World Famous Apple P…rust Me. The diner hadn't had any glory days, even in its glory days. The linoleum was butt ugly when it was first installed, maybe 30 years earlier. Flecks of brown on a tan background. Maybe the idea was to hide the dirt…it wasn't working. I slid onto the cracked red vinyl stool at the Formica counter and looked expectantly at the guy with a stained t-shirt, standing behind the counter.

I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and a piece of their world famous pie, then surreptitiously rubbed the grease from the menu on my jeans. I briefly wondered if they sold wine, but decided that a healthy glass of Maalox would be the perfect beverage to accompany my dinner.

The next place Brianna visited was the Lottawatah Police Station.

I shifted on the chair and finished the last stale peanut in the cellophane bag I'd purchased from the station's only vending machine. 10 pm. I'd been waiting more than three hours. Most of the police force, all 8 of them if you include the secretary and maintenance man, had been marching in the Fourth of July parade over on Main until about an hour ago. I'd been stuck with the pregnant staff sergeant whose swollen ankles precluded her joining the Independence Day celebrations.

Even in a small town, a girl has to go somewhere to get her roots touched up and find clues about whodunnit. Sheer Artistry Hair Salon was just the place.

Margo stole a side glance at Sunny, before turning back to me. "Candy and I had a little chat while she did my nails this afternoon. She mentioned you'd been asking around about me and Martha. You're a smart woman Brianna. Sheer Artistry is the place to go to find out where all the bodies are buried." Darn, Beverly. Between her and Candy, the women were unstoppable gossip machines. The whole town probably knew my business.

Since Brianna arrived in Lottawatah in her motor home, she needed somewhere to park it and a part-time job to cover expenses. She found both at a resort on Lake Eufaula.

Ghost or no ghost. Cooper or no Cooper, it was time to get to work. I pulled on my uniform, a pair of khaki shorts and a green polo shirt, with LEC in block letters next to a pine tree and a fish. I thought it suggested that the area was full of dead fish lying next to trees, but Jack Fulsom, the owner, testily informed me that I was missing the high concept nature of the design. High concept my behind! But in exchange for a free full hookup for Matilda, and a commission for every time-share sale I made, I was more than willing to sing the praises of this new, promising condo and cabin lakeside resort. And that meant wearing the cheesy t-shirt. I walked out of air-conditioned Matilda into air so thick you could chew it. The sales office was down a pine-canopied path near the water. I might be getting a free hookup for Matilda, but I wasn't getting a lake view.

Jobs in Lottawatah don't last too long. By February, Brianna was working at a new job and our fictional town of Lottawatah got another new business.

If I was late for my job at Pearl's Soak and Spin one more time, I'd be unemployed and would almost certainly have to hit the road in search of gas and food money. Lottawatah's economy, if it ever had one, had crashed long before the rest of the nation. Jobs, as Miss Pearl had reminded me, didn't grow on trees.

Even though Tiny's Diner was the local hotspot, every town needs more than one place to eat.

By the time Will Dobson let me answer the phone, we'd pulled into the local barbeque joint's parking lot on the edge of Lottawatah. Actually you could be at one end of town and almost see the city limits on the opposite side. Will Dobson had decided that we were going to get on I-40 and head west towards Oklahoma City. The shortest route was right through Lottawatah.

Will just laughed as I struggled with the dog. He didn't notice I snagged my cell phone off the truck floor during the fracas. Outside, I bent down, like I was going to set the dog on the ground, but instead I ran, Leon under my arm like a furry football. I managed enough for a first down before sliding out of bounds under Arnold–the six foot high concrete pig, beloved mascot and icon of the Pig Palace Barbeque Joint. Will Dobson got off one shot. Arnold lost his manhood, but Leon and I just kept sliding until we buried up in a snow bank.

That's all the time (and word space) that I have for our short tour of Lottawatah. To learn more, check out the books. Or you can take that exit off I-40 and see if you can find it. I dare you!

 

Rhonda

aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David

 

 

 

 

 

__________________________________________

 

Sullivan Investigations Mystery
Murder Off the Books Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle - Trade Paperback (exclusive to Amazon)
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

 

Zoned for Murder
Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
Trade Paperback

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle (exclusive to Amazon this month)
Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah - trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 - I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 - A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

My Kindle - August 2011

It's hot! In Oklahoma, this summer has been super hot. Temperature records have been broken and the unrelenting heat and drought continues. At 115 F outdoor activity is limited. We've had about a month of plus 100F days in a row - perfect time for reading inside under the air conditioner. Would that my air conditioner were working effectively (sigh), but that's a story for another day.

This past month I read:

Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens

Never Knowing is the second book written by this author that I've read. The first, Still Missing, was about the kidnapping of a real estate agent, her ordeal, and the aftermath. The story was told from the point of view of the agent as she relayed the details to her psychiatrist. I couldn't put it down. In Never Knowing, the author again uses the psychiatrist to relate the story of a woman who searches for her birth mother. She finds answers and a serial killer. The first book I considered a mystery, this one was more of a thriller. I recommend both but with a caution for readers who don't care for graphic violence.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is told from two points of view - Julia, the modern day journalist living with her family in Paris and Sarah, an eleven-year-old Jewish girl living in Paris during the occupation of France during 1942. I couldn't put this book down even though the themes are extraordinarily dark. The writer gives the reader no reason to suppose that either of the two main characters will live happily ever after, but that doesn't prevent the reader from hoping. When Sarah's voice goes silent, the reader is forced to finish the book via Julia's research. I searched for this book after recently seeing a trailer for a movie of the same name. If you like contemporary mysteries mixed with historical events, you'll find this book one of the best. I knew very little about what was happening in France during the Holocaust. This book described one horrific event that should not be forgotten.

I'm currently reading:

The Girl Who Disappeared Twice by Andrea Kane

The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen

What are you reading this month? If you're an author and have a new book out in August or September, post your pitch in the comment section! The weather guys are predicting another month of this heatwave and I have room on my Kindle for many more books!

Rhonda
aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
***New - Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Sullivan Investigation Series
Murder Drops the Ball (Spring 2011)
Murder Takes the Cake- Paperback - Kindle
Murder Off the Books- Paperback - Kindle
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Ruby Slippers Don't Help In Tornado Alley

It's that time of year again. Tornado season. Monday was the first day of 2008 that eastern Oklahoma was under a tornado watch.

Of course I'm used to Oklahoma's wild spring weather. I grew up here. Some of my earliest memories are of being bundled up in the middle of the night and taken to my grandparents' cellar. We'd spend an hour or two in that small, humid, underground room with its metal door, then go home. My grandmother stored canned vegetables from her garden down there on metal shelves that lined the concrete walls. There were also chairs and a metal cot with an old mattress and heavy handmade quilts. I don't ever remember being scared down there – it was more an anticipation of something that might happen but never really did. I'm sure my grandparents felt something entirely different during those times we were huddled in that cellar. They were remembering an evening in 1950, before the National Weather Service broadcast weather warnings; before towns had tornado sirens.

On April 28, 1950, at 7:05 pm, an F-4 tornado ripped through Holdenville, Oklahoma with no warning. My Dad was 13 years old that year. As he tells the story, he and his parents had been planting corn all day in the adjacent field. There had been a light rain and they had returned to the house to get cleaned up – they were planning to go downtown to eat dinner. By 7:00 pm everyone except my grandfather was ready to go. With only one bathroom, he was the last in line to take a bath. My grandmother and my Dad were in the kitchen, waiting for him, when they heard the sounds of a train. That wasn't an unusual sound for their area, but it was coming from the south. There were no train tracks in that direction. My grandmother and Dad went to the window. First they saw 50 gallon oil drums spinning in the air, then noticed the dark funnel cloud approaching.

Things happened very fast after that. My grandmother screamed for my grandfather, "There's a tornado coming right at us!"

My grandmother and my dad then tried in vain to open the cellar door. It was a trapdoor in the back porch and the metal file that they used to pry up the door was missing.

The sound of wind attacking the house was incredible. My grandmother sent my dad to lock the front door, but he found the living room and the front door gone. By that time my grandfather was dressed – his shoes on the wrong feet. He tried to get everyone into the cellar, but before that could happen, the kitchen roof fell in on top of them.

As suddenly as it came, it was over. My grandmother ended up in the bathtub – no one was ever quite sure why or how. They teased her for years about taking a bath during the tornado.

They stood on the back porch and watched the tornado destroy a pond dam and two more houses before disappearing. Horses from a nearby stockyard were scattered in their pasture – two by fours piercing their bodies, nailing them to the ground.

My grandparents were lucky. They survived the tornado without any injuries. They lost livestock, outbuildings, their barn, and their house. At least five people in Holdenville died that day. Thirty-two were reported injured. I asked my Dad what they did that night after the tornado struck; where did they go? He said they stayed right there. It was their home and they had to keep looters out. The next day they searched for items that had been blown away. He remembers finding his saddle about a half-mile from where the barn used to stand. Their two-car garage was gone, a car and truck that had been parked inside were still there, although slightly smashed together. The four dogs eventually all made it home; one remaining glued to their ankles for the rest of the summer.

My dad's older brother was in the Air Force, stationed in Illinois when the tornado struck. He was allowed to come home to help during those first two weeks; a short time after that he was given a hardship discharge and returned home for good. The National Guard was called in to protect the town.

That summer my grandparents rebuilt their home. First a garage and then an apartment located over it; someplace with a roof to live in while they constructed the new house, barn, and cellar- the cellar I spent so much time in fourteen years later.

I think about that day in 1950 when I hear the weather alerts on the television and the radio. I marvel at how far we've come in predicting when and where tornados will strike.

Like I said, I'm used to Oklahoma's spring weather. I don't get upset. But I do watch the skies.

Evelyn