Lightning!

This is the season for beautiful and frightening lightning!  Lightning has fascinated me since I was a child.  I've been so close to countless strikes, from house hits to nearby trees.  I remember when I was a kid in Nebraska watching lightning hit the back fence and arc over the gate.  Then it hit a truck and welded the hood shut outside where I was eating at the Philmont dining hall when I was in high school.  It took out a bunch of appliances and one whole circuit of our rental when Jen and I were first together.  I've seen a giant tree just seconds after a big strike that was splintered into thousands of little match-stick-sized bits of wood with the smell of electricity and ozone (I'm guessing) in the air.  I have a photographer friend now who delights in sharing wonderful lightning shots he takes all over the country.

But the most amazing and terrifying experience I had with lightning was when I was working at Philmont as a ranger in the summer of 1979 after graduating from high school.  I was responsible for a crew of 14 (or so) Boy Scouts for their hiking trek of a week and a half.  We had several memorable experiences, but the most memorable for me was about half way through the trek.  Our itinerary that day took us over Mt. Phillips, a reasonably tough climb with great views and an extended ridge trail leading down to Sawmill camp that night.  I had arranged to pick up several treats for my guys that day (watermelon, Doritos, and soda) that I could hike up to the mountain ahead of them and surprise them with.  These kind of things taste so good after you've eaten dehydrated food for a week, and there was enough snow still on the summit that I could have the soda and watermelon chilled for the guys.  The scouts really enjoyed and appreciated them when they got to the top, and we had a good time taking photos and eating lunch at the summit.  Then we began the ridge trail, and I'm sure you can guess what happened next.  Even though I had seen the approaching thunderstorm, I figured we would have enough time to get off the ridge and into the uniform trees down the other side before we had any lightning striking around us.  We did, but this was a particularly intense storm with a lot of dry lightning, and the least fit kid in the group began to exhibit signs of hypothermia.  (If you don't have experience with hypothermia, the body core temperature drops to a dangerous level that can kill if you don't get dry clothes, warm fluids and at last resort, external heating to the sufferer - at that time the recommendation was getting into a sleeping bag with the sufferer and wrapping your body around them to warm them.)  I knew he had gotten sweaty and chilled and needed to be changed into dry clothes at least on his upper half ASAP!  I had spaced the crew out so we wouldn't attract lightning as a group, but now we had to gather around the suffering boy and hold a tarp or poncho over him while we changed him into dry clothes.  The lightning struck very, very close to us, and I was just sure that the Albuquerque Journal would have a headline stating that several Boy Scouts had been struck by lightning due to the ineptitude of their ranger and leader, Tom Munch.  We got him changed and moving at last.  Luckily we weren't struck by lightning and the boy recovered fairly quickly as we dispersed again and rushed down the mountain.  I swear I felt the hair on my neck stand at least once as the static electricity built up, but the bolt never came.  As a side note, the kid who got hypothermia was profoundly affected by the experience of the trek, and he was definitely a changed and more mature young adult when we parted ways.  As another one of the trek members stated, "Some saw the mountains, some REALLY saw the mountains."  He REALLY saw the mountains.

So that's a few lightning stories from me.  Be safe in the electricity-filled wilds as you enjoy one more month of summer!

So what does this week bring me for gigs?

Thursday I'm at the Yellow Pine for the barbecue 6:30-8:30.  We had a great group again last week, and even a nice little rain shower in the middle of the evening.  I so much enjoyed the folks who came!  I encourage you to come out for the evening sometime before we're done on August 15th.  The number to call to make a reservation is 719-742-3528.

Friday I'm back at the La Veta Inn 6-9.  I can't say enough about how beautiful the evenings are on the patio at the Inn.  There have been many special nights this summer already, and we have several more to enjoy.  I'd love to share it with you if you'd like to come.

Sunday I'm back at Shadow Hills for brunch 10-1.  I'm going to every other week at Shadow HIlls for the next couple months.  I just have a lot of gigs this summer, and they wanted to try a different schedule to see how it went.  Come on out for brunch if you can.

So that's it for me this week.  I forgot to mention that I spent a couple days with family in the mountains over the weekend, and I also got to hear and sit in with Don Richmond and the Rifters in Red River, NM.  I was a thrill!

See you soon!

Tom

Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch
What:  playing & singing at the Barbecue
Where:  Yellow Pine Guest Ranch, Cuchara.  719-742-3528
When:  Thursday, August 1, 6:30-8:30 pm

Who:  Tom Munch
What:  playing & singing
Where:  La Veta Inn, 103 W. Ryus Ave, La Veta.  719-742-3700
When:  Friday, August 2, 6-9 pm

Who:  Tom Munch
What: playing and singing for brunch
Where:  Shadow Hills Golf Course, 1232 County Rd 143, Canon City.  719-275-0603
When:  Sunday, August 4, 10 am-1 pm