heroes and weather

We’re in a middle of a thunderstorm and I’m wondering whether to turn off my computer. A couple of years ago, a thunderbolt hit a house a few doors away and blew my computer and the telephone line. Along with dozens of others in our village. Ever since then I’ve always unplugged everything if there’s a storm, or even if we go away and the forecast’s not too good.

I actually don’t mind storms. I find them exciting. It’s nature at its best. They remind me of HMB heroes. Larger than life, making itself felt in a way that only it knows.

Gosh, that was a loud clap.

When my father was alive he used to tell me that he’d been hit by lightning on two separate occasions. He was very lucky, hardly hurt at all. I think he’d sheltered under a tree (?) and it hit his bicycle clips.

Talking about weather, here’s an incident that happened many years ago when I was writing one of my books. My hero and heroine were out at sea in a little boat in the fog when my daughter phoned. (If you’ve read my bio you’ll know that I used to write at the office) She’d finished school and wanted to know if she could come to see me. ‘Don’t be silly, I said, it’s foggy.’ ‘It isn’t foggy here, Mom,’ came her answer. And when I looked out of the window the sun was shining. I was living my story! Which has to be the most fantastic feeling in the world!