Almost Being Hit by Lightning
Well, "almost" is relative, of course. I could see the lightning, and hear it, and hear it the tree it hit, but we are probably talking a good two to three hundred yard distance between tree and I. This was not your average tree however - a big ass doug fir on the upslope high above me, which position increased my sense of its immensity. But I digress.
(Note: I have quit my job, so expect assloads of accounts concerning activities that betray my complete lack of responsibilities at the present moment)
Almost being hit by lightning makes it less likely that I will yell at the 10 year old next door who insists on making high pitched GRRRRRR type taekwando noises at 7 in the morning, and makes it more likely that I will acknowledge his father's friendly early evening greeting rather than walking swiftly past.
Almost being hit by lightning made it much easier for me to run, oh, say a mile and half without thinking about cramping up and/or lighting up.
Almost being hit by lightning reminds of finding the dead horse who had been struck by lightning, and being completely captivated by the facial expression on said horses's face.
Almost being hit by lightning impressed upon me how seriously fucked I would be if I so much as sprained an ankle running down exposed ridge to avoid ridge, or fallen and cut knee. Distance from civilizatoin would be in tens of miles, not miles, and starting a fire to get someone's attention would be an act of fatalism b/c it was so windy and the entire wilderness area i was in is classified "very high" risk on the little Smokey the Bear risk assessment system outside the nearby Forest Station. (Smokey's arm points to one of the following: Extremely High, Very High, High, Moderate, and Low, all of which are color-coded.)
(Note: I have quit my job, so expect assloads of accounts concerning activities that betray my complete lack of responsibilities at the present moment)
Almost being hit by lightning makes it less likely that I will yell at the 10 year old next door who insists on making high pitched GRRRRRR type taekwando noises at 7 in the morning, and makes it more likely that I will acknowledge his father's friendly early evening greeting rather than walking swiftly past.
Almost being hit by lightning made it much easier for me to run, oh, say a mile and half without thinking about cramping up and/or lighting up.
Almost being hit by lightning reminds of finding the dead horse who had been struck by lightning, and being completely captivated by the facial expression on said horses's face.
Almost being hit by lightning impressed upon me how seriously fucked I would be if I so much as sprained an ankle running down exposed ridge to avoid ridge, or fallen and cut knee. Distance from civilizatoin would be in tens of miles, not miles, and starting a fire to get someone's attention would be an act of fatalism b/c it was so windy and the entire wilderness area i was in is classified "very high" risk on the little Smokey the Bear risk assessment system outside the nearby Forest Station. (Smokey's arm points to one of the following: Extremely High, Very High, High, Moderate, and Low, all of which are color-coded.)
posted by am at
5:27 PM
1 Comments:
I can't speak for too many places - well, shit I can't speak for any place, but just offer a highly personal, somewhat informed opinion - and I would say, yes, very much so. Job-base wise, education-wise, knowledge of the world-wise, for sure; I think the unspoken and often unrecognized factor is how isolated many of these communities are. Big states with small communities = lots of ignorance as to how bad things are/how worse they will become. The thing about rural poverty, though, is that if everyone's poor, you can kind of become less marginalized. If you can help do some manual labor in area X, you can trade that with someone who does stuff in area Y. This is what I've seen at least.
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