How It Feels to Not Be Chasing

[Adam Lucio]

just getting up and going to work every day and not getting to chase much at all, made me realize that everything else I have outside of chasing is worthless without chasing.

We have a nice apartment. I have a good job. We can pay our bills. We can eat. We have friends. We have family. We (now) have a nice car. But none of it matters if I can't do the one thing I love more than anything in the Universe: chase tornadoes. Everything Dan realized wasn't worth giving up (to him) to be able to chase, I realized means nothing to me if I can't chase. I'm just not wired like most people. Life itself is a gift for which I'm eternally grateful, but if I can't do what I want with it, it's meaningless. Getting up and going to work and being a responsible citizen isn't living for me, it's merely existing.

This year was the darkest time of my life because I was just another working-class schmuck who did nothing but get up and go to work. For some people that's a happy life, but not for me. I don't mind being a working class schmuck, as long as I can live my dream too. I've been in both places: dirt poor, single, crap job, no home, sleeping on friends' couches, but chasing. I've had a great apartment, nice car, amazing gf, great job, bills paid, food in the fridge, but unable to chase. I was so much happier during the former.

Everything that everyone spends their life working for, I'd give up in a heartbeat, if having it all kept me from chasing tornadoes. That's why I'm here, to chase tornadoes. Everything else is just details.

Wow Shane, I couldn't describe myself any better than those words right there. I feel the exact same way, 100% I think thats why I always like reading your posts, because I relate to them in a big way. Nothing else in life gives me as much fulfillment as when I am out there chasing. I once had the good job in downtown, lots of overtime, I was spoiling myself with stuff I didn't need [summer home, fancy stereo, big TV, was 2 paychecks away from buying a boat before I ironically got laid off] but despite having all those things, and living the "american dream" that everyone strives for, I was miserable, because half the time I sat at work and watched what I was missing.

Sort of a tangent post, but nothing hurts me more than missing chase ops, I have a decent amount of freedom and chase-ability to chase most of what I want to, but still not ALL that I want, and I will continue to find a way to make that happen. It pains me to see people not being able to pursue what they love because life kicks them in the teeth, and I have that much more respect for people who deal with, and overcome hardships to make their dreams a reality than those who can simply just do it because they have rich parents spoon feeding them resources.

 

[jeremy wilson]

I experienced the same "down time" and epiphany that Dan describes above, except I'm the polar opposite; (as if I didn't already know, but hadn't yet been 'tested') I was sidelined for almost all of the major 2011 events due to the fact our car died in early April. We're not the type of people who can recover from a catastrophe such as this with a simple replacement, so it basically destroyed our 2011 season. Sitting at home watching live streams, seeing FB posts about all the tornadoes all our friends were seeing just a few hours away, and realizing how historic the April 27 event was becoming while we were missing all of it....three months of having my life's dream ripped away from me and being forced to "live as a normal human being" throughout this historic tornado season by just getting up and going to work every day and not getting to chase much at all, made me realize that everything else I have outside of chasing is worthless without chasing.

We have a nice apartment. I have a good job. We can pay our bills. We can eat. We have friends. We have family. We (now) have a nice car. But none of it matters if I can't do the one thing I love more than anything in the Universe: chase tornadoes. Everything Dan realized wasn't worth giving up (to him) to be able to chase, I realized means nothing to me if I can't chase. I'm just not wired like most people. Life itself is a gift for which I'm eternally grateful, but if I can't do what I want with it, it's meaningless. Getting up and going to work and being a responsible citizen isn't living for me, it's merely existing.

This year was the darkest time of my life because I was just another working-class schmuck who did nothing but get up and go to work. For some people that's a happy life, but not for me. I don't mind being a working class schmuck, as long as I can live my dream too. I've been in both places: dirt poor, single, crap job, no home, sleeping on friends' couches, but chasing. I've had a great apartment, nice car, amazing gf, great job, bills paid, food in the fridge, but unable to chase. I was so much happier during the former.

Everything that everyone spends their life working for, I'd give up in a heartbeat, if having it all kept me from chasing tornadoes. That's why I'm here, to chase tornadoes. Everything else is just details.

Nailed it Shane. Thanks for sharing that bro.

You told me in Murdo that your career seems to be getting in the way of your chasing. That pretty much sums up the way I feel about it too. Damn I can't till Spring.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I'm still trying to find myself a happy medium, but I can agree that there's no reason to live or work if I can't chase. When it looked like I'd miss May 24th completely, I was ready to quit my job or just drive my truck into a lake. Thankfully before losing my mind completely watching Gary England on TV here in the office talk about the mile wide El Reno Wedge my boss let me go and I was able to see the tornado of my life.

I don't have any sort of safety net. If I can't pay rent I'm living in my truck. If I cant pay truck payments I'm living in the street or trying to crash on someones couch. I wish I could marry a sugar momma but that is about as likely as the proverbial F5 hitting Dallas. I wasn't lucky enough to have giving parents. I guess the positive is that I don't feel like I'm on the hook later in life to give back to my parents.