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Column printed on Saturday:

Move brings life lessons
By AMANDA WINTERS

I’ve learned many things since moving to Coeur d’Alene this June. I’ve learned that I bounce around like popcorn every time I hear a gun go off. I’ve learned new terminology like “Idabillie” and “Calibagger.” I’ve learned to never leave my iPod on the passenger seat of my car on a hot day (it died). But the most important thing I’ve learned stems from a late-afternoon drive my boyfriend and I took last Friday.

We decided to take the White Pines Scenic Byway and loop back to Coeur d’Alene. The weather was pleasant, warm and mostly sunny, but after we drove through St. Maries it all changed.

Suddenly the sky looked angry and ugly. Wind started to pick up and that’s when it started: My first major lightning storm.

As a native of northwest Washington, I’ve seen lightning storms before, but nothing like that. Ours consist of 30 minutes of rain, loud thunder and an occasional strike of lightning.

We continued toward the storm. Since the wind was blowing strong, I thought we could drive through the storm easily and avoid it following us if we were to turn around. I thought wrong.

At one point, it occurred to us that the car was made out of metal, which is a conductor of electricity, and maybe we shouldn’t be in it. I later read an online article by Air Force Meteorologist William P. Roeder, that metal cars are actually safe to be in as long as you keep the windows rolled up and don’t mess with electronic equipment.

We didn’t know that, so we pulled off the road in the middle of an empty field with a lonely tree standing nearby. I later read, in the same article, that empty fields and lonely trees are to be avoided at all costs.

After the rain started pouring down on us, we pressed on. As we drove, I could see the air turn blue with the electricity of the lightning strikes.

Nearing Potlatch, I thought it was over. There hadn’t been lightning for a few miles and the rain stopped. Once we started up U.S. 95 it began again. Lightning was everywhere, constantly. I’d never seen anything like it before. It was exhilarating and terrifying.

Then we almost ran out of gas. The National Ag Safety Database states gas lines should be avoided during a lightning storm. Again, we had no idea so he filled up the car in Plummer as I stood outside and took video of the storm.

North of Plummer the rain started. It was so heavy the road wasn’t visible at times, and the lightning was blinding on top of that so driving was nearly impossible. I finally put my face in my hands, unable to watch anymore.

We made it home safe at last, I rushed into the house, straight to my computer, where I looked up lightning safety. Then I learned I had done everything wrong and was continuing to disobey the rules by being on the computer (during a lightning storm all electronics should be unplugged).

From that experience, I learned to always check the weather before going out and to do the opposite of what I did if I ever again find myself trapped in a never-ending lightning storm.