Tornadoes

I have a fascination for tornadoes. If there is a show on about tornadoes, you can almost guarantee that I am watching it. I even dream about them. It has got to be from my childhood.
My first experience with a tornado I do not remember because I was only a baby. It happened on April 3, 1974, I was almost 14 months old. My Mamaw (grandma) was watching me while my mother was at work. My mother tells me now that it was the second scariest day of her life. The second worst storm of the 1900's took place. There were 148, yes, one hundred and forty-eight tornadoes in twelve states. One of these tornadoes blew the steps off of my Mamaw's house as it took a path in the fields across from her house. My Mamaw is so funny. Even with the storm and tornado, she would not take me into the basement. She didn't want the spiders to get me.
Memories that I do have are not that scary, but scary enough. I remember pulling mattresses down into the basement and sleeping in the laundry room. One morning when we went outside, one of our trees had blown over and we still do not know how it did not land on the house as it was on a slope leaning towards the house. My other memories include being at school and the siren going off. We would have to line up againt the hallway walls and crouch down with our arms covering our heads (Like this would really help).
Even now when there is the "right weather" here in Sacramento, if you drive by my house I will be out front looking up at the sky. Looking for a tornado.