Lightning

Monday, June 01, 2009
Charlotte, MI

We woke to dark skies and thunder at the Mercer County Fairgrounds in Celina, OH. this morning. I jumped out of bed, peeked at the radar online, and saw a large storm approaching. This wasn't in the plans... the rain wasn't supposed to start until later in the day. I also checked the NOAA weather website for warnings and watches, and saw that Mercer County Ohio, the county we were in, was the ONLY county for 5 states around that was under a severe thunderstorm warning... the ONLY one! What the heck?

Not wanting to get stuck in the grassy low spot we selected for our one-night camp, I rousted Dar and we did the "two minute drill" getting the bus-house ready to move in just a few more than two minutes. I started the Cummins diesel, pulled the jacks, and was starting to move just as heavy rain and hail started to fall in earnest. The immediate objective was an asphalt parking lot a few hundred feet away where we could wait out the storm.

As I was slowly moving toward the parking lot, I simultaneously saw a bright flash, heard a very loud bang, and saw wood and bark exploding from an old tall oak tree just a few feet away. Yikes! Lightning had struck the tree. Not knowing if larger parts of the tree, or the whole tree, might be coming down my way I picked up the pace and hustled the bus to a safe spot in the parking lot. Dar, who was driving the toad right behind me, had the same experience... and the same reaction. She pulled up close beside the bus-house, parked, and scurried the few feet through the down-pour back into the camper. You can imagine the conversation as we shared the ordeal and tried to convince ourselves that someone, something, wasn't out to get us. What's a morning without a heavy dose of paranoia for breakfast?

It rained heavily for about 15 minutes and then lightly for a while longer. When it lightened up to a sprinkle we walked over to the unfortunate oak and inspected the damage. It is one of the tallest trees in the fairgrounds and we could see patches of missing bark from the top to the ground, but no signs of burning or charring. Near the bottom the bark on about a third of the tree's circumference was missing and large chunks of it were scattered all about. Unfortunately, I don't think the future is too bright for this grand old oak. It's been growing here for well over a hundred years, through wet years and dry, through that many cold winters and that many hot summers... it probably survived all kinds of abuse from insects, disease, kids, and more. It was mature, grand, the tallest in the immediate area. And being the tallest is what made it the target for that lightning bolt. In a split second everything changed. It's now on a declining path, that long descent to the end.

But isn't that just life?

T