We are in the season for lightning. Despite the odds, we are still worried that it will hurt us, our home, our car, our pet. I grew up in Northern NJ and my mother used to regularly tell me that I must not use any water nor any small external device during an electric storm. In other words, don’t wash the dishes with the radio on. OK, how about the radio on and not wash the dishes?

Twenty-five years or so later I was living in Colorado, in the mountains. My carriage house was at approximately 12,000 feet elevation. I lived alone, but that night I had invited a girlfriend over for dinner.
So, there I am relaxing in the tub with a cocktail in my hand, my TV in the living room is visible with the bathroom door open. I felt glad to be home from work in Denver, going over dinner’s menu when suddenly a huge bolt of lightning strikes me in the tub. I am blown out of the tub, my little Yorkie was hysterical and my TV was smokin’.

What is my first thought? Oh, shit, I didn’t shave my legs. So I proceeded to put each leg into the toilet and shave each leg. I am thinking nothing about all of this. I go to the kitchen to begin a meal for Judi and me. Then there she is at the door. I open to welcome her in and she looked at me with fear and said, “What happened to you?”

I said that I might have gotten hit by lightning from being in the bathtub, but I was fine. Yeah, yeah, right. Judi called 911, but they said that if I wasn’t visibly injured, just wrap me in a blanket because my pulse was very high (I forget the number), and then 911 said it would crash to around 30. That, apparently, was the danger zone and that I might go into another state. I hope my figures are right (it’s been a long time.) They also said to keep things normal to calm me down.
My friend ran next door to my neighbors’ and they gave her a small TV, she came back and started cooking a meal. Then they told her that I would fall asleep soon and would probably sleep for 3 days. Yep, that’s is exactly right and my friends took shifts to watch over me.
I didn’t feel injured; I didn’t look particularly different except my eyes were dilated. I assumed that was a great ending for an amazing event. My neighbors’ response was that they heard that if the water outside probably dispersed the hit enough for me to take the hit without major damage.