lightning rods are good
| 1 June, 2011 | Posted by bill under ramblings, short stories |
especially if you live in a tall house at the top of one of the only hills in the area, during a lightning storm.
this past sunday night, we had a pretty cracking storm cruise through overnight, filled with lightning flashes and that deep, grumbly, boulder-cracking thunder. woke me up at 3am* and lit the bedroom. cool to watch, being all snuggled and safe in bed.
turns out, the house got struck, blowing our Dog Watch hidden fence unit across the garage, and frying our garage door opener, my desktop computer, our television, an outlet and lights in the bathroom, our phone (and internet) and our cable TV line.
frustrating and confusing as this might have been, it was all completely counterbalanced by not having to have a conversation with the Fire Dept while they hosed down the ashes of our entire home.
our house is 100 years old with 4 lightning rods on the 2 roofs and those things certainly saved us; so much so that we didn’t even know about the bulk of the stuff until the next night, because we were busy enjoying our planned activities in the garden and working in the house on other stuff. never bothered to turn on the tv or computer or even pick up the phone.
needless to say, though, there hasn’t been much on the writing front. however, i’m reading a very cool book right now that has me feverishly jotting notes in prep of a story idea i hatched back during my Viable Paradise week, which is getting me very excited.
oh, and i finished the draft of another short this past weekend, currently titled “The Aesthetician”. i had many different stops and start on this one, but this finally came out.
so, yeah, lightning rods are good.
*impressive, given that i’ve slept through fire engines hosing down a housefire across the street
**leant to me by a future biochemistry scientist of some reknown (and my sister-in-law)
Wow! Super glad you’re both alright, so yes, lightning rods are good. I’ve been considering putting in a whole house surge protector that get’s wired into your electrical panel… this story has made that a new priority…. given we’re on top of a hill!
Thanks, Julie. Yes, I can’t overstate just how grateful we are far our lightning rods. This 100-year old house may not have any right angles, but now were perfectly okay with that. :) That surge protector/electrical panel idea also sounds like something to check into.