Ka-BOOM

Sunday evening, November 29:

House-rattling BOOM tinkling glass flash of light. (I can't type BOOM big enough so picture it ten times bigger)

I was on the top of the stairs so I saw the flash of light and knew where, but not what. Peggie was in the office and knew nothing. My instinctive thought was gunshot, maybe shotgun, right in the yard. Peggie thought plane crash. Our neighbor thought incoming artillery.

What it was was lightning.

The mesquite tree that has been on the corner of the house for 22 years exploded. The sap must have instantly boiled when the bolt hit. One whole branch fell on the neighbors' house and the trunk (it was 7' in circumference) was split right to the ground. The metal strips that are glued to our windows to break them into smaller-looking panes fell off. That was the tinkling sound, the glass stayed in one piece. The nearest windows in the house next door also lost the metal strips. Two of the bird houses that sat on the window sill fell off onto the chair where I might have been sitting if I was reading or watching TV. An hour later a picture fell off the wall. The rest of them were all croooked, but we hadn't noticed. The EM blast knocked out two radio-frequency remotes. The cable which supplies us with TV, DSL, and phone was fried. The door jam into the garage came loose, and the curtain hangers in the garage came out of the wall and ceiling. Peggie's heart raced for two hours. We figured out what it was within minutes, but the initial fear took a while to subside.

There was no fire, but we could smell burning still after an hour, so I dialed 911 on my cell phone. The first operator said, "That's the sheriff's department," and transferred the call before I could argue. I gave the next operator my address and she said, "What city?" and I said, "Tucson, but really we are in the county." She said, "Pima County?" "Yes." "Well, this is Pinal County, I'll transfer you." The next operator transfered me to the fire department who agreed to come check it out as a non-emergency, meaning no lights or sirens. Good thing it wasn't an emergency since it took several minutes to get through the system. Apparently my cell phone went through a tower in Pinal County. Who knew?

We also contacted Comcast to come out for the cable, the insurance company, and a tree company. The cable people were out Monday morning. The tree people couldn't get here until Tuesday. The insurance people said to send them pictures, and handled it on the phone.

The tree was a total loss. They had to grind it up and haul it away.

Now we have a big empty spot in the yard and in the sky. The neighbors all came out because of the tree guys. They all remember the explosion, but hadn't known what it was. The cable guy took pictures because he had been working in the neighborhood and heard the explosion, too.

I bet the insurance company is talking about us. After thirty-some years of coverage, we've had two truck windows, the trailer siding, and a lightning-struck tree in a six week period. I wonder how much the premiums will increase.