Lightning Strike!
This morning, at about 5 AM, I was having a crazy dream involving submarines, fog monsters, crossbows, and Sarah refusing to help shoot the encroaching fog monsters because she was afraid of twisting her ankle and not being able to run tomorrow.
And then, there was a bright flash of light. So bright that it immediately woke me up. I think I’ve established that I am a fairly heavy sleeper. Sounds rarely wake me up, much less light. BUT oh, this was bright.
I opened my eyes and before I could even register what was happening, the loudest crack of thunder I’ve ever heard shook the house. Before it even finished, Darwin was gone. Like a furry bolt of lightning himself, he ran to the basement, and didn’t come out again until nearly 8 AM.
The architect came into the bedroom (he’d woken up a little earlier when the thunder was further away & was closing windows) to see if I was okay. I was – it was just a storm, after all, and I am of hardy midwestern stock.
I got up and we went to the hall window. Just as I’d decided the fun was over, the powerlines outside our house started…shining. And then, another blinding flash. Before the flash was over, the thunder pealed again. SO FREAKING CLOSE.
The next lighting/thunder was further away, which was nice. A few minutes later, it started pouring down rain. I was so angry! I’d just pulled all the garlic and they were sitting drying out in the garden.
It was eerie that there was no wind, either. That freaked me out more than anything. After the first crash, we noticed a horn was on not too far away. I think I saw the cause this morning.
Two blocks south of us, this happened:
That beautiful cedar was one of the tallest trees in the ‘hood (obviously, it was the one the lightning hit, after all). The top 20 feet are just gone. There was exploded tree debris for at least a block in all directions. One of the larger branches had landed on a car in the neighboring driveway, on the other side of the house.
It didn’t look like the residents of the house were there. I think it’s renters, since the house was for rent about a year and a half ago. The broken branches did bring down at least one wire.
I went around the side of the house to see if the chickens were okay, and they seemed to be (yes, I do obsessively stalk all the neighborhood chickens).
I met another woman who lived a couple blocks in a different direction. She said the second lightning bolt hit the transformer outside her house, and that they had just recently had power restored.
As I was walking away, I noticed a few dead crows on the ground. Creepy.
The Fox 12 news van was out, filming the whole scene. Maybe I’ll be on the news, ill-advisedly standing UNDER the large tree & looking up. FAMOUS!
Anyways, that was our morning excitement! I hope all other PNWers weathered (hee) the storm okay!
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