At age twelve I was outside sitting in a small metal shed with two other friends doing bicycle repair during a thunderstorm. I was leaning against the metal wall. The shed was attached to a metal fence by several strings holding eggplant vines. There were several tall oak trees all around us and their branches were touching the fence.

A lightning bolt struck one of the trees very close by and my back got an electric shock. It wasn't bad. It did startle me. If I could describe the nearest thing to the feeling, it would be like touching your tongue to the top of a weak 9 volt battery except the feeling was all over my shoulders and upper back. The sound was scarier than the electric shock.