That was TOO Close!!

Today is my birthday and I'm celebrating in a whole new way. I'm thankful today...very thankful.

Last night, most of Maine, (northern part), got some serious lightning and thunder. Where I am located, we were supposed to only get the tail end of it, the bottom portion of it, and it wasn't supposed to be all that bad.

I have lived in Houston where the lightning is so ridiculous it's like a strobe light. In Houston was the first time I was ever afraid of lightning. I would sit in the hallway, away from windows and any outlets, holding my cat Serenity, waiting for it to pass. It's bad in Houston.

I then moved to Miami and we got some lightning there and it wasn't too bad. I moved out to the Everglades where it really kicked up and I would pray while driving the airboats but when it was right on top of us, we would be called back in. (Giant metal boat out on the open water with lightning crashing around = Not a good idea.) The lightning out there was pretty fierce and there were times it struck right near us. One day I even saw a green ball traveling down the power line during a storm. But, it wasn't as bad as Houston and while it could be unnerving at times, I wasn't scared to the point of hiding.

Last night...at first I just shut off the fan and a/c and only ran the laptop and t.v. (It's Shark Week, c'mon!) And at about 9:40pm, the storms seemed to be going away.

Wrong.

Here in the town I live in, we got a whole lot more at around 11ish...11:30pm or so, right when I was getting ready to go to bed. The lightning was literally striking right outside the door. At one point the dogs jumped up, ran out the bedroom door, barking and then attacked each other because they were so scared. I called them back in to the room being as nonchalant as I could, (which was hard cause I was anxious, as well), and had them lie back down on their beds. But, it got so bad that I turned everything off, (even Shark Week), and got down on the floor with the dogs. I actually was afraid last night.

It appears I had good reason to be. This morning when I pulled out of my driveway to go to work, I saw that lightning had indeed struck very close to home...WAY too close for my comfort.