Blogger's Excuse: The Lightning Ate My Router

Wow, has it really been three weeks since I've posted?! I have a good excuse -- well at least for last week. Write off the other two to post-holiday fatigue.

Last Saturday, a scarily close lightning strike hit a tree in my neighbor's yard, then zipped across the street to take out my wireless Internet router. And two of my three TV sets. The kitties and I were not happy.

But now I have a new, better, faster router (and a super-sized power strip) and a new, bigger, better flat screen HDTV. I am well and truly back in the blogging saddle.

Natural disasters can and do happen to anyone. Several years ago, lightning called at my sister's apartment. Literally. It came in through her doorbell. Had it not been for a big metal coat rack sitting smack dab in the middle of its path, the lightning bolt would have destroyed her entire home entertainment system.

In December 2008, a tornado topped off a pine tree in my back yard during its little rampage through Hattiesburg's Parkhaven neighborhood. It destroyed what Katrina had left of my neighbor's fence and left the neighborhood smelling piney-fresh, but otherwise did no harm.

And in 2005, well, you know.

I'm beginning to believe there may be a map somewhere with a big red "X" on my property. So I guess the moral to this story is: Invest in good power strips and make sure your electronics are always plugged into them. And unhook your cable when bad weather is in the forecast.

But natural disasters aren't all bad. According to the sports pundits, hell froze over last weekend in New Orleans. I'm pulling for a second deep freeze in Miami next Sunday.

Let's just hope Mother Nature doesn't get lost and stop by my house instead.

If she does, we'll all yell, "WHO DAT?"

I'm just saying.