FLASH! BANG!!

Friday night, we set up a tent in my sister-in-law's back yard to spend the night. They live in Wellsville, Utah, and it's rural-ish there, so we didn't fear for our lives, sleeping in a tent without a large buffer of untamed wilderness surrounding us.

Boy were WE wrong. We SHOULD have been fearing for our lives.

About bedtime, a little thunderstorm rolled through. No big deal. We fell asleep to the pitter-patter of rain on the tent, but it was a warm night and we weren't expecting a major storm to come through.

Around 1:30 in the morning, I was awoken by a (as far as I could tell) simultaneous flash and bang. The thunder had that strange, hollow-sounding echo of a nearby strike. This was the closest strike I can remember. Holy...

Apparently, kids sleep more soundly than adults. There were 5 adults and 8 children (ranging in age from less than a year old to 13 years old) camping out in 3 tents. All of the adults were instantly awake, hearts beating wildly, wondering when the next strike would happen. None of the kids remember the lightning or thunder. Many remember their anxious parents' reactions, but not the actual strike.

It was the one close strike of the night. If there would have been a second, I'm sure there would have been 5 adults and 8 children suddenly camping out in my sister-in-law's living room.