Big thunderstorm here this morning with lightning striking within 100 feet of my big window as I looked out and was temporarily blinded by the flash and deafened by the sound. I couldn't help but think of this time in the past.
In the early '80s on a hot and humid Friday, I was working on a big ranch in a remote valley, and lightning came out of nowhere and hit about 20 feet from where I was arguing with the drunken former ranch owner. He thought he was still boss, but his wife and daughters had legally taken over the ranch because he was drunk from morning till he passed out. We were moving a herd of BLM rescue horses to a higher pasture and one of his daughters was on a horse 20 feet the other side of a lightning strike with I about 20 feet on the other side and the strike blew up dust and made such a concussion that it caused the horse to buck knocking off the daughter and knocked both Australian Shepherd dogs over a few feet and made me go straight up and my waist was about even with the top of the drunks pickup. I fell to the ground. We were all OK in a few minutes, just hard of hearing for a while with aching muscles from our uncontrollable reaction. Her horse and the Mustangs took off headed for who knows where with the cowboys (about 200 feet from the strike) in hot pursuit. We send the drunk (he showed no reaction to the strike) on a back road to warn one of his old drinking buddies a stampede was headed his way. We knew they would get to drinking and be out of our hair for hours.
Then it was a downpour for several minutes so that put the quietus on any work so we went back to the ranch house, got under their huge patio cover, stripped off wet over clothes, down to bra and panties, and the boss lady brought out a cold keg the guys were saving for their big Saturday night poker game. We fired up the grill and 6 girls, age 22 to 49, just partied on down. Needless to say, the next day the cowboys were real pouty and had to make an hour trip to town to get more beer besides fixing their own breakfast as the cook ladies were part of our party and slept in. Not only were the cowboys peeved about the beer and breakfast loss, but the idea of 6 very fit and shapely ladies in soaking wet bra and panties partying in their absents was just too much. Their concerns of disenfranchisement were answered by the boss lady as, "Sorry about your bad luck guys."
In the early '80s on a hot and humid Friday, I was working on a big ranch in a remote valley, and lightning came out of nowhere and hit about 20 feet from where I was arguing with the drunken former ranch owner. He thought he was still boss, but his wife and daughters had legally taken over the ranch because he was drunk from morning till he passed out. We were moving a herd of BLM rescue horses to a higher pasture and one of his daughters was on a horse 20 feet the other side of a lightning strike with I about 20 feet on the other side and the strike blew up dust and made such a concussion that it caused the horse to buck knocking off the daughter and knocked both Australian Shepherd dogs over a few feet and made me go straight up and my waist was about even with the top of the drunks pickup. I fell to the ground. We were all OK in a few minutes, just hard of hearing for a while with aching muscles from our uncontrollable reaction. Her horse and the Mustangs took off headed for who knows where with the cowboys (about 200 feet from the strike) in hot pursuit. We send the drunk (he showed no reaction to the strike) on a back road to warn one of his old drinking buddies a stampede was headed his way. We knew they would get to drinking and be out of our hair for hours.
Then it was a downpour for several minutes so that put the quietus on any work so we went back to the ranch house, got under their huge patio cover, stripped off wet over clothes, down to bra and panties, and the boss lady brought out a cold keg the guys were saving for their big Saturday night poker game. We fired up the grill and 6 girls, age 22 to 49, just partied on down. Needless to say, the next day the cowboys were real pouty and had to make an hour trip to town to get more beer besides fixing their own breakfast as the cook ladies were part of our party and slept in. Not only were the cowboys peeved about the beer and breakfast loss, but the idea of 6 very fit and shapely ladies in soaking wet bra and panties partying in their absents was just too much. Their concerns of disenfranchisement were answered by the boss lady as, "Sorry about your bad luck guys."
