The Apple Tree

Day 30 Doxology:  I can still hear my dad say, "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!" But, usually that phrase was quickly used after I hit a home run; or after I had completed a job that seemed to huge for me to complete at whatever age.  I heard it when I made a game-saving tackle, or "that" block.  I thought I was going to hear it the night he came to the only wrestling match he ever attended when I pinned my opponent in about 30 seconds, to which all he said was, "I can't watch that!"  In truth, I spent most of my youth trying to get my dad to say, "I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!"

Today was one of those weather days.  The old saying is, "If you don't like the weather in Alabama...just wait a day."  Meaning...our weather changes on a dime from one extreme to the other. You just never know what to expect.  Like my dad's "apple tree" statement I always heard that we live tornado alley.  That is not entirely true.  As it turns out there are a lot of "Tornado Alleys" across the United States.  We do fall within the boundaries of what is referred to the "Dixie Alley", and Alabama is 9th on the list for tornados per 10,000 square miles -worthless info that only Big Mac will appreciate.  The relevance is...in Alabama we pay attention to the weather growing up.

My dad use to watch the weather none stop.  It was like his responsibility to know what the weather was going to be for tomorrow.  "You are going to need a coat in then morning," he would say.  "You'll want to put the top back on the jeep tonight," he would suggest.  My dad was James Spann before James Spann was James Spann.  I'm embarrassed to say that he even had a James Spann bobble-head.

So, I digress!  This evening I watched hours of coverage on the moving cells of hailstorms and potential wind damage moving across our state.  My dad, if off work, would have been glued to the coverage.  I believe he would like the technological advancements that have been made for storm prediction.  In the end, after I was glued to the T.V., like the years I mocked my dad for being glued to the T.V., all I could hear is "I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!" -a phrase that never get's old!