[at-l] Adventure and Adversity

[sloetoe at yahoo.com (Sloetoe)]

--- Amy Skowronek <askowronek@mindspring.com> wrote:

> On Oct 19, 2005, at 9:19 AM, Jan Leitschuh wrote:
> > The thunder is crashing close above us now. It is intense. I
> start to whoop.
> > YEEEHA-A-A!!!!
> > Upon realizing life still continues for both, I whoop again.
> 
> 
> I had a similar experience in college.  Instead of a Jan-like
> life affirmation, I developed a fear of thunderstorms.  Heh.

### Oh, me, too, Aims! On July 14th, 1979, I decided to do a 30
mile day into Delaware Water Gap, for my birthday. I'd been
stacking up 25s for awhile, but those last 5! Wow! This was
going to be a big deal, but I could cruise into DWG knowing I
had a beer, a food drop, a hostel, and some time off waiting for
me. I'd cranked 15-16 by noonish, and was feeling great. It was
in the bag. 

### But around 1:30pm or so (I hadn't had lunch yet), the clouds
coalesced into BIG billows of angry slate, opened up, and poured
out MASSIVE downpour -- like nothing I'd ever (or still)
experienced. And the FLASH-BANG of nearby hits -- one of which
was so close I could feel the heat of the flash through the
roaring waterfall deluge, and hear the 'crishk'ing of exploded
wood through the leaves right over my head.

### From there to Connecticut, I was hit every afternoon between
2:30 adn 2:45pm with a 20:00 thunderstorm -- meek little echoes
from my "birthday present."

### Fastforward to Summer, 1980. I'm working 12 hour days in the
shipping/receiving department of a junkmail manufacturer,
there's some BIG thunderboomies passing by in the afternoons.
Hotter then hell, dustier as all get-out, and poorly
air-conditioned. But everybody wanted to know why I was so
all-fired-up reluctant to open the big garage doors in the
shipping bays... How could I tell them that I just KNEW there'd
be a bolt of hot white lightning that was just gonna come down,
turn a 90* corner just feet from the asphalt parking lot, and
come under the door, right across the shipping bay, to zap ME to
crispy Kingdom Come whilst I'm cringing in the corner, trying to
cool off?

### I actually felt better outside.

boltoe