Pictures of Lightning Strike

This continues my original post from July 18th about the lightning strike.  Here are pictures of the tree that was struck and the animals that did not get struck.  I am so thankful every day that 3 goats survived and all horses and ponies survived.  The horses and ponies were out in the pasture away from the barn when the lightning strike happened.  Please be careful when it's lightning outside!!

Jr. and Jet eating hay by the barn.  We've had Jr. since he was two years old and he is 14 now.  Jet is 18 years old and we've had him since he was six months old.  Jr. is a registered Paint gelding and Jet is a registered POA gelding.

Jet, my favorite!

All that is left is shredded trunk of the tree that got struck.

My three survivor goats, Andrew, Fudge, and Al Pine.  All very old wethers that we've had since they were babies.

More of the shredded tree.  This tree was 50 feet tall and about 3 feet around before it was struck.

Andrew and Al Pine

Al Pine, such a sweet boy, named after the Rescue Heroes t.v. show that Luke liked when he was a little boy

This is the chunk of tree that flew about 30 yards and landed by the big horses' barn.

Tree that flew 30 yards and scraped along the big horse barn and landed outside one of their stall doors

Chunk of tree by the big horse barn

Starlite, our beautiful Classic Shetland pony that we got from Bob and June Masters in Missouri when she was a yearling

Peppy, my best driving pony.  All three of my ponies are Classic Shetlands.

Flashy, a gorgeous mare out of Dolly, and Peppy above is her sire.  Dolly was Luke's first pony when he was five years old, and she was awesome.  Everywhere we went trail riding, people would want to buy her, she was such a great pony and very beautiful to look at.  

I am thankful these guys all survived the lightning, as huge trunks of tree flew everywhere in their paddocks.

Lightning Strike

Are you afraid of lightning?  If you are not, you should be!  I was outside sweeping sidewalks this past Sunday, and it had been a very nice day.  We went to church, Rog smoked some delicious ribs on the smoker and Luke baked a german chocolate cake and Rog did the homemade coconut pecan frosting for the cake.  While I was sweeping, it was thundering and lightning, and sprinkling a little rain.  I never have worried too much about thunder or lightning, because I have to feed horses and goats every morning before work, no matter what the weather.  While I was sweeping, there was a HUGE KABOOM, and I could feel the electricity crackling in the air.  I thought that a transformer in our neighborhood had been struck by lightning, but we still had electricity, so I didn't worry too much.  Vegas was outside with me when it struck, and we both jumped a foot off the ground, it was so loud and scary.  We didn't get any wind, and only about 2/10" of rain.  I went to the barn about 1 1/2 hours later, and was shocked by what I saw.  The lightning had struck one of our trees in the goat pasture.  The tree was originally about 50 feet tall and 3 feet around.  The lightning had shredded the tree, split it into many pieces, and had thrown huge pieces of tree about 30 yards away.  One chunk, so big I could not lift it, and still had the roots attached, had been catapulted out of the ground, through the horse fence, skidded along the tin of the horse barn, and landed about 30 yards from the original tree.  I am so thankful the horses were not at the barn and were out in the pasture during the strike.  The goat pasture looked like a war zone, with huge branches and tree trunk everywhere.  It was sad losing such a beautiful tree, but our sweet little goat, Sissie, was a casualty of the strike.  I found her dead at the base of the tree that had been struck.  I'm not sure if she was struck by lightning, or hit by the flying pieces of tree.  I really loved her, and miss her tremendously.  I was so upset at the unfairness that this happened to such an innocent and sweet animal.  Rog reminded me that she had a good life.  She was about 13 years old, and we had her for about 10 years.  She was a joy, and is greatly missed.  Here is a picture of Sissie girl.  We will never forget her, and have been very blessed by her presence in our lives.

The message for all who read this, is be careful when it's lightning and thundering outside.  Mother nature is extremely powerful, and lightning can be very destructive and dangerous.  I will never again treat it as lightly as I used to.