IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING

Monday September 14, 2009

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring"

As I drove through a nasty thunderstorm to yoga today, the beginning line of this old nursery rhyme was playing over and over in my head. When I was a child I would laugh at the snoring part of this rhyme because it reminded me of my Daddy's snoring. However, I wasn't laughing today. The frequent thunder and lightning was only causing me anxiety.

I kept trying to remember the counting rule regarding lightning safety. I knew there was a rule. It was something about counting after the lightning to a certain number. I couldn't remember the formula and it bugged me all through my yoga class. (I know I am supposed to have a clear mind for yoga but I didn't quite make it today.) The minute I got home I looked up the information to share with you. I would not want you to be aggravated as badly as I was.

Flash-to-bang:

*When you see the FLASH, count the seconds to the BANG

*Divide the number of seconds by five to get the distance between you and the
lightning. Every five seconds equals one mile.

*If you count to 30 or less go inside.

*If you count 15 seconds or less, a lightning strike could occur where you
are (three miles away or less).

After I had found the formula, I listened intently determined to figure out how far away the lightning was. Wouldn't you know it; the storm had ended while I was engrossed in my lightning research. Oh well, next time I'll be ready!

Additional evacuation information is available at www.wineandchocolateplan.com