Written by BERNICE TRICK
Citizen staff
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Thursday, 03 July 2008 |
Joyce Stunder looks at split bark on a birch tree in her back yard. The tree was struck by lightning Wednesday night. (Citizen photo by David Mah )
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Nick and Joyce Stunder said Wednesday's strike was the third to hit their Riverview Road home in the past 22 years.
"I sometimes wonder if somebody is trying to tell me something," said Nick, whose last name rhymes with thunder.
It was about 7:30 p.m. when a big bang and flash occurred, shaking the house and startling the couple.
"It hit a fir tree and lit it up like a Christmas tree. Then a tall birch tree started burning near the top and kept on burning for about five minutes before the rain put it out," said Nick, who described the phenomenon as "like having a free light show in the backyard."
Today he can't see much evidence of the burning, but the lightning peeled back a strip of birch bark four to five feet wide on the lower part of the tree. "It peeled the bark right down to the wood at least half way around the tree that will have to come down."
About seven years ago, lightning struck a fir tree in his yard and "knocked out the microwave oven." he said. He had to remove the tree.
The couple's first experience with lightning hitting a tree happened about 21 years ago shortly after they moved to the property. That fir tree did not survive either, but the stumps remain as a reminder of the power of nature.
"They say lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but it's got us three times. It's hard to believe," Nick said.
The claim that lightning never striking twice was further shattered by Roy C. Sullivan, a Shenandoah National Park ranger in Virginia, who was struck seven different times between 1942 and 1977.
He lived to tell about every one of the seven (a world's record), and his scorched park ranger hats are on exhibit for everyone to witness.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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