A Loud Ping

There seems to always be some kind of story
That a Christian has to tell
So I will add what happened to me yesterday
As one of my stories and let it swell.

Yesterday, there was
A series of storms coming our way
And as is my usual habit
I got in the bed to wait the storm out
Why do that, well, I will help you understand
What it was about.©

 

I have always had a fear of lightning as far back as I can remember. So I always get into a quiet place, which happens to be in front of the television in my bed. Whenever a storm rolls in, I always watch the television to keep my mind occupied and help keep my fear of lightning at bay. And I have my cell phone handy so that I can see the radar screen and know when it’s time to get in the bathroom that is in the middle of our house because that is where we go as a storm shelter since we don’t have one.

Well, yesterday I noticed that there were

Storms converging on the city

Where I live from three directions

All according to radar detection

Storms were approaching from the north

From the east and the south

But, much wind, there didn’t seem to be

So now you know why I was in my bed

Watching television, while waiting the storms out

I have to say I was amazed at the fact

That three storms in the red were converging on McKenzie

But I didn’t think that convergence

Had anything to do with me

Besides, I knew that GOD had my back

In any contingency.©

 

The storms seemed to be pretty much run-of-the-mill storms. I could see the red on the radar get larger as more storms formed. I watched the storms as they met, it seemed, at the blue dot that represented the city where I live and then grow into a large red blot at that spot. And then they moved off to the southwest. As I was watching the radar I noticed a light yellow or golden spot that was approaching the other clouds from the east. I figured in my mind that this little lightly colored cloud didn't pose much of a threat; after all, it was not dark red like the others. And since I noticed that this was the last of the clouds, I began to feel a sense of relief and had just told my daughter that the storm was about over.

Ha Ha Ha, Let me tell you something, folks. From yesterday forward, I will always be very mindful of a light yellow cloud that converges with others on the place where I live.
When that light yellow cloud got to the blue dot that represents my city, and I had put my cell phone down, there was the loudest pop of lightning that I'd heard in quite a while! And it had the distinctive ping; you know that sound that lightning striking something makes.
At the same time, I yelled, "Woo!" and ducked down in the bed with my head under the cover as my daughter came from her seat in the hallway and asked, “Did that hit something?!” I said, “Yes, I think it did.”

Well, that was the end of the storms for the day, and there was no damage as far as I could tell.

In the meantime, I received a phone call that lasted about 20 minutes or so. Then I hung up the phone and proceeded to go about the rest of my day.
Oh boy, when I went to get up from the bed, the room started spinning, so I sat back down and wondered what in the world was going on.

 

Well, I managed to slowly get up and walk to

The window and back while holding onto the bed rail

But I can tell you that my stomach was rolling

The walls were spinning, and I did not feel very well.©

 

I thought to myself, "Perhaps my stomach is empty and I need to eat something; perhaps that is why I’m not feeling well." I managed to walk slowly and the room began to right  itself and the spinning to stop. Then I raised my head to look at the wall where it meets the ceiling and my world started spinning again.

Y'all, I dropped my head in puzzled thought. I was really beginning to be alarmed by then.

 

I staggered back to the bed,

Sat down on the side, bent down to adjust my sock

While in thought and almost fell

To think, "My oh my! What was going on?"

I definitely I was not feeling well!

The spinning had come back in full force and

Was accompanied by a slightly nauseated feeling

And I remember thinking to myself

"Don’t bend over to look at the floor

And whatever you do,

Don’t look up at the ceiling

Because this spinning has not finished with you.

I puzzled over my condition for the next several minutes or so

And you know how we often do

I went back through my mind

And thought about when I first began to feel unwell

And I remembered it was right after that lightning ping

And phone call as far as I could tell.©

 

So y’all know me, and probably know what I did next. I looked up the effect of what a lightning strike was, and this is what I found:
"There is such a thing as an indirect strike where lightning strikes something near you, and you may get some of the jolt from whatever it was that was struck." I really don’t know, but I do believe that I may have gotten a bit of a lightning strike, don’t you know!?
I say that because one of the symptoms of an indirect lightning strike is dizziness and it works like vertigo.
So, today I had my husband go outside and look on that side of the house and look all around the yard and see if there were anything that looked like it received a lightning strike. I do know that when there is a lightning strike such as a tree being hit, it leaves splinters of wood. Well, he found no such evidence in our yard. But, he said that what happened to me could have been caused by a strike that happened a ways away since I had been sitting beside the window. (Didn't think the window mattered because it is such a high window and only the top of my head was showing.)

 

Well, I said my prayers and the dizziness, which

Was still present this morning has gone away

Lightning strike? I don’t know if this were so

But I want a storm shelter in the worst

Way possible now, don’t you know?!

 

And I will always be uncomfortable whenever

I hear the approach of a thunderstorm and its lightning.

Yes, for me that will always be a bit frightening

Though it would be a lot less so

If I owned a storm shelter. (sigh)

 

Can't Y'all just imagine how it will be

My daughter and I, both at the hint

Of a storm will be scrambling

For that shelter with alacrity!

 

Oh, and one last thing about the lightning and me

At a house in which we used to live

When the lightning would flash, I would

Get into the closet in the center of the house

And everybody in the family

Would laugh at me.

 

Well one day, we had a humdinger of a summer storm

That caught me in the restroom

So, what did I find when I scrambled

Out of the restroom to my place of safety

My daughter sitting up in my chair

That everyone knew was in that closet for me!

 

And let me tell you, she was wild-eyed

Biting her lips and stuck like glue

(I couldn't get her out of that chair

And I imagine neither could you)

With her legs wrapped around that chair

So much so that we all just fell out

And had a good old laugh at how she

Beat me to my storm chair in that

Tiny closet of safety.©

 

I am fine this morning, thank the LORD. And if I have managed to make you forget your troubles and chuckle a bit, then good!

And, yes, I know that the LORD is aware of me and where I am, but try telling that to my addled brain when the lightning pings! You know what I think? That's what I get for sticking that pin in that socket all those years ago! My brain may still be somewhat electrically charged! Ha, Ha, Ha! Well! I can laugh about it now; the storm is over; I am fine, and the socket was years ago. Be safe.

And to answer your next question, nope, I will not be sitting beside that tall window anymore. 

Walking by faith,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones