Well, Tuesday turned out to be quite the unusual, eventful day for me.

On Monday, I got a call from somebody who said there was a really big, fast-looking boat in town.

He gave me a number. I called it.

I spoke to a very friendly gentleman, Jim Franklin from Rowlett, Texas, who offered to take me for a boat ride on Lake Wawasee.

I met him at the ramp and went for a ride in an Eliminator 33 Daytona with around 1,140 horsepower.

We reached a speed of 107.5 mph.

It was quite exhilarating, I must say. Our family boat goes about 40.

Forty in this boat seemed as if you could jump out and go for a swim.

He let me drive the boat, too. That was really nice of him. Of course I drove the boat a great deal slower than he did. I mean, after all, it wasn't my boat.

So I got some basic information from him and decided to run a couple pictures in the newspaper because it was, after all, a really cool boat.

I rode my motorcycle to work that day because my son's car was in the shop and he needed to use my car.

That's no problem because I enjoy riding my motorcycle to work.

But as we were pulling the big, fast boat back to the ramp, some ominous clouds were forming to the southwest.

When they were loading the boat on the trailer it was already raining. My camera got a few rain drops on it so I stuffed it under my shirt.

When the boat was on the trailer, I decided it would be a good idea to get a picture of the outdrives hanging off the back of the boat.

I pulled out my camera, composed the shot and depressed the shutter.

Nothing happened. The thing was locked up. I shut it off, took the battery out, put the battery back in, turned it on and tried again.

Still locked up.

I figured the water got inside around the shutter release and shorted it out or something.

Bummer. Broken camera.

The boat guy looked at the sky and offered to take me to a late lunch to wait for the storm to blow over. I said thanks, but I only had a few miles to go and I would probably be able to beat the storm.

I stuck the camera and my notebook in the rack bag of my motorcycle, put on my leather jacket and helmet and headed for home.

Two minutes later it was blowing, lightning, thundering and raining pitchforks and hatchet handles.

Soaking wet, I pulled under the awning at the Church of the Nazarene at CR 1000N and Ind. 13.

I waited for the bulk of the storm to pass and rode the rest of the way home in a light rain.

I pulled the bike in the garage, took off my jacket - which now weighed more than I do - and emptied my boots.

I changed into some dry clothes - a pair of swimming trunks and a T-shirt - and grabbed the camera out of the rack bag to see if it was any better.

It wasn't. It was still dead. Of course I couldn't get the film to rewind with the camera dead. I figured I would wait until after dark, pull the film out and manually thread it back into the canister.

I set the camera on the counter in the kitchen.

I let our little dog out the front door and decided to chill in front of the Golf Channel for a while.

Not too much later we got hit by another storm front. The little dog was scratching to get in so I went to the front door.

When I opened it, a wall of water was cascading out of the gutter.

The little dog ran in the house.

I took off my T-shirt and stepped out to clear the downspout at the end of the gutter.

I am getting soaked again, but at least this time I am in swimming trunks.

The gutter is low, so I can reach over and clear the downspout. As I am doing this, I hear our big dog barking.

He stays in a fenced area and deck on the south side of the house.

I go back inside and grab a towel on the way to the deck door on the south side of the house.

I figured I would throw the towel over big dog before he shook all over inside the house.

By now big dog is scratching at the door and barking. It is blowing, lightning, thundering and ... well, you know.

I opened the door and big dog ran the other direction to the top of the stairs at the edge of the deck instead of coming in.

Already wet and barefoot, I stepped out on the deck and yelled for him to come. He just looked at me, as if he was confused.

At that precise moment, approximately, 60 feet away, a twin bolt of lightning struck two adjacent trees down by the lakefront.

I saw the bolts because the trees were straight behind big dog and in my direct line of sight.

I heard the sizzle and deafening thunderclap at the same time I saw the bolts.

I actually felt the charge in the air. There was an unusual odor in the air, too, or maybe it was my imagination.

Shards of tree bark and wood flew around the yard and in the lake.

It was incredible.

My head immediately felt stuffy, as if I had a cold. But that sensation passed pretty quickly, within 10 seconds, I'd guess.

I stood there in awe for a few more seconds. By now, big dog flew by me and was in the house lying down.

I remember thinking that he would never again ignore me when I call him. I dried him off and went to put the towel away.

After putting the towel away, I noticed the camera on the counter. I picked it up and turned it on. It was working again, just like new. I rewound the film and went back to the Golf Channel.

My wife got home from work a short time later. She picked up my daughter from a friend's house on the way.

They both told me I was acting weird. I told them about the lightning strike.

They thought I should go to the emergency room to be checked out. I guess I did feel a bit disoriented but I assured them I was OK.

Besides, I asked, what could they do at the emergency room, prescribe a glass of Jack Daniels?

Big dog was a little beside himself, too. He always barks when the neighbor kids ride their go-cart past the house. Last night he just watched them go by.

I started thinking about all those stories you hear about people being struck by lightning and becoming smarter or more talented.

I tried playing my guitar. Same old hack.

I went down to the lake and hit a couple shag balls with a 5 iron. I hit the ground on one of them.

No luck.

Regardless, I would have to say Tuesday was quite a day. A 107.5-mph boat ride and near-hit experience with a lightning bolt.

I would highly recommend either for the resultant adrenaline rush.

The lightning bolt didn't make me smarter or more talented, but at least it fixed my camera and made my dog a little more obedient. [[In-content Ad]]