Years ago I had a case in which a young father died. He worked for a
government agency involved in community redevelopment. A significant
project was completed, and a celebration was held. The place was a very old
local church. This man went into the church, and sat about halfway down the
aisle, in the middle of the pew.

The celebration was held in the evening after a hot summer day. The church
was old, and the windows were open because of the heat. A thunderstorm
developed, complete with lightning. According to witnesses, ball lightning
landed on the window sill next to the pew where this man was sitting. The
ball lightning hopped across to the back of the pew, followed the back of
the pew to where this man was sitting, and jumped on him, causing the man's
death.

I often think about this when making a decision to go flying. I don't
believe in pushing it, but when your number's up...


Jay Honeck wrote:
I just returned from one of the hardest evenings of my life. Mary, my
kids, and I just attended the visitation for Blane Anderson, our
friend and fellow pilot who lost his life in the crash of a Spencer
Air Car (and amphibious homebuilt craft) last Friday, just west of
Iowa City. He was less than 20 minutes from home when his plane went
down, hard.