The Last Strike

The lightning storm finished with a single flash and an immediate crack at 4:45 this morning. That's when I fell asleep wondering if it was our lightning rod it hit or a tree outside. At 7:15 I found the answer in no less than 15 fire trucks and an unreal amount of firemen standing around on my street. Ella's preschool is on fire. Of course we pulled on sweatshirts and went out on the front porch to investigate and then wandered a block to see what we could see and then finally wandered into the local one-stop and heard about a probable lightning strike to the building and how four foot flames were shooting from the roof at 5:00 this morning. Careful checks of surrounding roofs prevented any spreading like the last time downtown burned decades ago. On the way home, I broke the news to Mrs. Neighbor standing in front of her place we were leaving on Saturday and she bid us good luck while hiding a small pleased smirk.