Just shy of a month ago violent weather hit one afternoon and caused Murphy, Mr. Meow, Tabby, and I to huddle together in the laundry room due to potentially tornadic activity heading our way. If you’ve caught any of the news today, you’re well aware Tennessee was one of the states ravaged by bad weather once again last night.
It was a dark and stormy night…
There were tornadoes in the Nashville area around 10 p.m., but not near where we live. Thankfully we weren’t forced to seek refuge in the laundry room again. (But I did have everything set up just in case…)
However, that was only Round One of the storms. They warned everyone that another round was on its way and due in at the worst possible of times –around 1 a.m. when the majority of people would be asleep. Myself included.
The Plan: Set an Alarm
I don’t have a weather radio yet to alert me to bad weather, so I decided I’d leave the TV on.
I turned to the Weather Channel because their warning buzzer is obnoxious and I felt it stood the best chance of waking me up. (I can sleep through most things anyway, but last night I was especially tired and knew it’d take a lot to rouse me.)
The Plan Fails
Once in a while lately the Weather Channel’s been experiencing technical difficulties. It’ll have picture but no sound. It happened again last night after I fell asleep. Which meant I had no buzzer…
Murph, the Storm Alerter to the Rescue!
…but I did have Murph. Around 1 a.m. we had some severe weather buffeting our neighborhood and I was sleeping right through it. Until Murph changed that.
My thunderstorm phobic dog whined, nuzzled me, stamped all around on the bed and otherwise made enough disruption to pull me from my slumber.
Once awake, I changed the channel to a local news station to get the gritty. There were signs of rotation in nearby areas, but again thankfully not in our neck of the woods.
Good boy, Murphy!
What’s weird is that Murph, while still shook up and sticking right by me, calmed down much quicker than normal once I was awake. Even with the thunder and strong winds rocking the house, he laid down. (Normally he paces, whines, pants like mad, and it’s impossible to console him.)
But last night it was almost as if his sole purpose was to alert me to the fact I needed to change the channel.
Just how smart is he?
I’ve always known he’s smart as they come, but now I’m wondering if he’s even more brilliant than I realize. Could it be he understands I get my info from the TV? Did he know I was relying on a warning to signal me we needed to take cover?
I may never know, but I sure am thankful he seems to watch out for me like I try to watch out for him.
Related Articles
Paying Attention When Pets Act Weird
What Do Pets Know That We Don’t?