Heeding the Warning Signals

“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” *

            It was time to take our dog, TJ, on his afternoon walk around the neighborhood. The sky had started out blue with big white clouds that morning. However, soon it turned to grey and stayed that way the rest of the day.

Reports of a storm were coming in, with occasional alerts… “Lightning strikes ten miles away” and “Wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour.” Since it was warm and muggy with hardly any breezes blowing, I wanted to take TJ on a quick lap around two blocks before dinner time.

When I told Al my plan, he consented to go with us, but repeated that there was a storm on the way.

“The sooner we go the better,” Al said, with his eyes upon the western horizon.

As TJ stood at the gate, I buckled on his harness. Our old lab was panting, but his ears were up and body quivering, ready to go. Just the sound of the word “walk” was enough to get him up out of the prone position and at attention!

At least he has learned enough to “halt” once out the gate and not to pull on the leash. The days of being dragged behind two running dogs while trying to hold onto their leashes are over, thankfully. One of the two is no longer with us, and the other one has remarkably calmed down. The once wild TJ is now an obedient and faithful companion. But he still enjoys his walks!

We had only gone down the driveway and across the street when a friend came out to talk, not aware that we were in a hurry to outrun the rain. Unfortunately, we had to cut the conversation short in order to keep moving along.

 However, after a short distance Al told me to stop, that he wanted to show me something. The radar on the weather app on his cell phone showed rain approaching from the west.

“Look over there,” he said. “The sky is black.”

“Well, maybe there’s still enough time to make our loop,” I responded hopefully.

But when we reached the corner, he told me that he didn’t think we should walk the second block. I was reluctant to change plans, however agreed to limit it to one block that day. All the while, Al had an eye on the blackening sky overhead while TJ and I were oblivious to what was happening.

As we reached the halfway point, I heard some rumbling.

“Was that a plane or thunder?” I asked him.

“I’m telling you, a major storm is coming; and no, that was not a plane!” he said emphatically.

At that, we tried to speed up, but TJ still had to take two more stops before reaching the house. Our trash can and recycling bin were by the side door, ready to be filled and then taken out to the curb for pick up the next morning.

“Do you want to take the trash out now, before it starts raining?” I asked.

He thought we had about five minutes; but as I was going in the side door, changed his mind.

 “No, less than 5 minutes.”

Then suddenly he yelled, “Let TJ in through the back door, quick!”

Both of them made it into the house just as the downpour started. They were wet, but not drenched. Once inside, TJ headed for the hallway and promptly lay down flat on the floor—an  action that did catch my attention. Was a tornado coming too? Not that day anyway, thank goodness!

“Wow! What timing!” I told Al. “Looks like we’ll have to wait to take the cans out to the curb.”

He was still incredulous that I hadn’t been aware of the change in the weather, noticing that once it started raining there was a big drop in the temperature, about fifteen degrees.

When I asked him how he knew that we had less than five minutes, he said that it was from experience gained through backpacking. In the high country, it was crucial to be aware of any weather change and to know when to take cover.

Although we don’t use the words “prudent” or “prudence” very often, they certainly apply to this situation and to being cautious, exercising good judgement and using common sense in times of danger. Lord help us!

*Proverbs 27:12 NIV