My story begins on a dark, stormy night. Although it was only a few nights ago, it's etched in my brain like an etch-a-sketch. Tip it and it might fall out all over this page. With the wind whipping my brain into a frenzy. Lightening so bright it was blinding, leaving only little round orbs of light behind my eyelids. Sirens going off for hours and from all sides.

Of course, being a woman, the minute the sirens came to life, the practical side of me collected all of our important papers, money, credit cards, extra clothes, and medicines and hauled it all downstairs into the North-East corner of our basement. My dog, as always, was hot on my heals throughout the whole ordeal, breathing heavy with bloodshot eyes. The poor thing. Of course it might have helped had I let her off her leash or at least put it down while I was busy running back and forth.

Glancing briefly at the T.V. as I went back for our flashlight, candles, and battery powered emergency radio, I noticed that the Doppler radar showed massive storms headed right for us. The colors that worried me the most were the bright red formations with dark purple centers. These of course were predicted to hit our small town within minutes.

So, where was the man in my life during all of this? Well, outside of course, riding the wind. Meanwhile, I'm sitting in the basement, with the dog, our gear and anything else I could think to gather and I found myself wondering if the howling I was hearing in the distance was coming from the wind or from the man I love? Of course, I do believe it was the wind or at least I sincerely hope so.

So, it dawns on me as I'm sitting alone, with only my dog to comfort me - Why is it that man has this impulse, this carnal urge, to go outside during the worst storms? Why do sirens blaring, signal that it's safe for men to go outside, when it clearly tells me to batten down the hatches and run for cover? Is it passed on from father to son and on and on until it's not even a conscience decision but a compulsory act? Or is it something else? Something more dark and sinister?

As I was huddled in the basement, I was reminded of the old axiom that goes something like, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound?" Likewise, if there is a storm and a woman is not there to panic, do men still go outside? Frankly, I wouldn't know the answer to this because in my experience, I've always been in the basement or other "safe" room,

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