Iflyfish
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Lightning fast discussion
There was a lengthy discussion on this site regarding lightning. It was posited that lightning originated in the ground, not in the sky. Here is an
interesting piece demonstrating that the trigger for lightning comes from space. Intersting science.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3214/02.html
IflyfishandruninsidewhenIhearthunderorseelightning
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wessongroup
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Now that is some lighting!! had not seen the program.. thanks
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Iflyfish
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See, wasn't that a lightning fast discussion?
Your welcome wessongroup glad I could light up your day a bit.
Iflyfishwhennotsharingobscuresciencegeekstuff
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grace59
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Absolutely Illuminating! Thanks, Iflyfish!
Whenever I hear that rainy, chill wind blow. I think it may be time to head for Mexico. Tengo que obedecer mi corazon!
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Mexitron
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Interesting theory on how lightning is triggered by cosmic rays....when we've been camping on the Pacific side of Baja in summer several times we've
seen the "blue jet" lightning shooting out the top of hurricanes or large thunderstorms from far away in the Gulf or south...pretty color!
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wessongroup
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Lighting strike.. my uncle had left me to build a corral for some cattle up in Long Valley AZ way long ago.. was 16.. had a storm come up.. and they
had taken the jeep back so I got up under a large Pine tree..
A bolt of lighting struck the tree which was just next to the one I was under keeping out of the rain.. the tree "exploded" and hunks of wood were
flying like shrapnel, a pice about 4' long and three feet wide when whizzing by me.. among other pieces
I went down to were I had been building the corral out in the open, got a little wet, but no big woof, was a young kid in AZ .. no more strike near me
and guess I could have gotten one there too.. but standing under a tree did not seem to be a good idea..
When my cousins got back in the late afternoon to pick me up.. they thought it was the funnest thing and just howled and howled.. but, then they
thought me running a cat over a cliff was funny too.. cowboys get a little bored it seems.. snake were always funny too.. to them.. especially for a
kid from Los Angeles ...... or tell you to go into the barnyard, and not tell you the geese will try and kill you.. Yuk, Yuk, Yuk .... did you see him
jump that fence, Yuk, Yuk.. some of the best times of my life were working on my uncles ranch in AZ
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k-rico
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It's the hand of God
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wessongroup
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Like the picture, where did you find it.. got a link?
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k-rico
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google images, I think I searched on zeus lightening
hand of god also returns some interesting images
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bacquito
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Interesting, thanks. I always thought that it was simply neg. charges vs. pos. charges in clouds.
bacquito
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Barry A.
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Great story WessonGroup, and I love the original link by IFly. One of the most spectacular lighting storms I was ever close to was up on the San
Pedro Martir plateau.
I had a similar experience as Wesson when I was in the Natl. Park Service in Dinosaur NM in NE Utah on fire patrol. Lighting struck a Juniper about
25 feet away from me as I lay in a small arroyo scared stiff near the top of a small hill. There was lighting striking all around me so I had become
one-with-the-ground. The noise, smell, and shear energy was indescribable, and I was sure glad when it had passed (in a matter of mins.)---a
near-death experience, for sure. When I came to my rational senses, I was lying in about 2 inches of running water that up to then I was not even
aware of. The smell of ozone (I guess??) and fried juniper was heavy. It has rained so hard there were no fires, believe me.
Yeee Haaaaa!!!! 
Barry
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wessongroup
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Barry, Liked yours ... the water, the smell, the noise.. and the energy.. those things you just helped me remember.. wish I could write better.. you
captured the experience with your words.. I was scared to death with it hit.. had NEVER seen or herd anything like that before or after.. once in a
life time...
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Vince
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Love these lightning stories! Baja has given us alot of lightning displays, one more reason I like going there in the summer when the fishing is the
best. Lightning is rare in the San Diego area, it's a treat to see it elsewhere.
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Iflyfish
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k-rico
Good one!
Reminds me of my favorite Far Side cartoon.
Two fish in a bowl, one saying to the other "If there is no god who changes the water?"
Great lightning stories. I wonder if you could feel it coming, no double entandre intended.
Iflyfish
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Sharksbaja
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Good stuff. WG, can we hear the cat story?
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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wessongroup
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Sharksbaja
Good stuff. WG, can we hear the cat story? |
The family used to run cattle over in AZ, keep them down on the Verde River in the winter then bring them back up high for summer graze ... but water
was always a big problem.. they had this old Cat which they used to doze up holding ponds for water.. and then we would haul water to the holding
ponds for the cattle... well everyone worked, we got up early and everyone would eat, my Aunt used to cook for up to 30 hands in the summer.. but we
all would get assigned something to do.. and you were just expected to do it.. I was 13 when my uncle told me to "take that water truck over to Star
Valley" I could barley reach the peddles and it had an old brownie two speed transmission.. well I did it.. but all most killed my self doing it.. got
going way to fast.. the roads at that time were no paved, just gravel.. the water started sloshing and the tuck ended up going off the road but,
didn't tip over.. my uncle told me, well you just got to slow down and that was it.. but, on the cat.. I had seen my cousin on it cousin a few times
and had watched him start it with a hand crank for the take motor.. so my uncle say, you say here and go up this fire road about 1/4 and make a right
turn, well I did, but in the process I had to lift blade up quite a bit and I couldn't see real good, I'm looking around and the next thing I see is a
drop off of about 75 feet, I try and stop it, but I scared and don't get it stopped and over it goes, I'm able to jump off, the blade being up high
caused it to do one flip in the air and it landed on its tracks.. it quite running for a while, I keep at it and got it back going again.. had to work
my way all the way back around and up to the fire road... and finally got to the place where I was supposed to make a holding pond.. it was then it
quit... this only thing had taken the better part of the day, I was 14 at the time.. and did not know what to do.. we sure did have cell phones, and
did have radio's either .. so I just sat there till they showed around 2 in the afternoon.. I uncle asked me what seemed to be the problem.. I was
afraid to tell him, but he was a really good man, so I told him what had happened.. Well, he told me I did just fine.. and not to worry about that
"piece of equipment" people are more important.. Now lets check it out and see if we can get her going.. he went over and checked the fuel in tank..
"Wiley, you ran out of gas"... and the all think this is the funniest thing ever.. what I had done, and that I was so afraid that I had broken the
"cat"... some really great people.. still remember my aunt making fresh bread for breakfast, and we would milk the cow, had fresh milk and real butter
it was a time that I still have vivid memories about.. Zane Grays cabin is about 2 miles from their house, which was a log cabin.. They moved into
Pine in 1884 after the Apache's were removed and taken down to the fort at Camp Verde.. 
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Barry A.
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Whoa, Wesson----------now THAT is a story, for sure.
What fun!!!! That was great to read.
Barry
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wessongroup
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From you Barry, I feel pretty darn good.. if I got it out to where all can read it and understand it I feel ok.. I'm always looking at what I put up
and can't believe that I did not see "that" and "that" ....
Really glad you liked it.. my family had a hard time keeping me in California.. I just wanted to be a cowboy, just like my uncle and my cousins...
where they lived and what they did was just so basic even a kid of 10 or 11 was given a chain saw and told go get some fence posts, here the keys to
the Jeep, they had an old Willie's pickup that you could not kill, shift with out the clutch, no problem.. run over stuff no problem.. get stuck no
problem, winch, it that didn't work you got the old Ford tractor and put a chain on it.. broke something, fix it.. no police.. town sheriff was "old
Bill" drove a Chevy pickup .. he had a bum leg, got kicked by a mule, and by the time he could get out of his house and into his truck we would be
long gone.. and it was the old days so he had to catch you to give you a ticket or take you to your parents.... we didn't even have licenses', just
kids running around a very small town Pine AZ in 1952
Had always wanted to retire there, but the boys stated Payson Concrete in about 1963 and started subdividing all the land around there... turned into
a place where all the rich folks from down in the Valley would get summer homes to get out of that heat.. the place was and will never be the same.. I
saw cowboy in Payson in 1952 riding horses and shooting out the street lights after getting really tanked up at the only bar in town..
Kind of like Baja, it was a lot different in some ways back in the 1950's and 1960 when my Dad started bring us kids down and when I started coming
back down after getting out of the service, and then after getting married.. who's family were from Tijuana..
It's all good, I'm having a good time, would like to be able to do a lot more, but, like someone here who has there signature.. about thought I had it
bad without shoes, till I saw someone without feet.. I look at it that way.. so again it's all good.. I'm getting to talk about people I have know in
my life and experience also.. glad to share with all.. It was great to have Ken tell the one about him laying face down in 2 inches of water.. I can
relate... the story's we all have, should be shared ... they are great stories of things which have really happened, they are not made for TV movies,
nor scrips written by someone for us to read.. they are real life events.. that is what makes they so good to share.. we all can relate to parts of
every story.. I can still smell that smell from the lighting.. I can see hear that "crack" when it hit that tree, and I can still remember how it
scared the crap out of me.. and I thought I was such hot sh*t at the time..
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