When Lightning Strikes Very Close To you

Have you ever thought about death by lightning?

I remember, a hundred years ago, when I worked out-of-doors construction. When it came to mid-afternoon all of us workers would periodically glance into the sky in all directions. When we saw some dark clouds in the distance we would mentally will those clouds to come to us. A thunderstorm is legal reason to stop work early!

It was not the delightful cool rain that cut short a work afternoon. It was not the sudden drop in temperature. And it was not the wind. We welcomed those things.

No, it was the lightning — or, perhaps more accurately — the potential danger of lightning.

No crew foreman wanted a dead worker on their conscience. No foreman or company they work for wanted a lawsuit.

Whether you were hammering a shingle in place on the roof of a two-story structure or cleaning out the cement mixer or using a toothbrush to clean the joints in an ashlar pattern of wall stonework you just laid, when thunder crackles across the sky it is an alarm that goes off, saying, “Quittin’ Time!”

It is truly a joyous sound! And it is a little more joyous coming from Mother Nature instead of the freaking boss. I have, on occasion, in the midst of back-breaking menial out-of-doors…