AJ was so wound up with excitement tonight that I did not think I would ever get him to bed. It has been a day full of drama.

It began calmly enough. My husband took AJ to preschool while I piled coffeecakes and donuts and a big carafe of coffee into the car to haul up to the pool for a little post-exercise party for our next door neighbor, a 25 year resident of the neighborhood, who will be moving away while we�re gone. She has been taking the water aerobics classes at the pool for almost as long as she�s lived here and we�re going to be very sad to see her go.

It was a good class and a nice, low-key party. I returned home to hold the ladder as my husband attempted not to slide off the roof while cleaning the gutters. I picked up AJ from pre-school where he and his friend O. screamed and shrieked and hugged each other as if they would never see each other again until I dragged AJ off to the car. He arrived home in a great mood and ready to play games, which we did until lunchtime. Here�s where the drama part begins.

As we were eating our lunch, the sky got very dark. Clouds were rolling in rapidly and the wind was picking up. We heard a few gentle rumbles of thunder in the distance and it began to rain hard, but, compared to the torrent that turned our yard into a full-fledged river a couple of weeks ago, it was relatively tame. All of a sudden, we heard something that sounded like singing, as if someone had snapped on a radio broadcasting ethereal choral music. While we attempted to identify the source of the music, AJ suddenly pointed outside, �Look!� Flames were shooting up from the utility pole in the far corner of the backyard. The singing continued as we called 911 when a small explosion startled us and seemed to squelch the fire and the music, although smoke continued pouring out of the area. Soon we heard the sirens � a fire truck and ambulance, quickly followed by ComEd. It appears that the pole was felled by a tree zapped by lightning. Strangely, our electricity remained on. We�ve had past incidents with this same pole, although nothing quite so dramatic, and our power has always gone out. We felt lucky and went about our business. I put AJ down for his nap and drove out for an eye appointment, at which point it became clear that the storm had been much worse than we thought. On my way out, I saw several colossal trees down � a maple fallen, an ancient oak scorched and cleaved in two. On my return, my attempt to take a different route was thwarted by a road closed sign. Later, on a stroll through the neighborhood, I discovered why � a monumental willow tree, one of the largest I�ve ever seen, had toppled across the road and taken down several utility poles with it. The power was out by the time I got home and remained out until after 8:30 p.m.

My walk around the neighborhood this afternoon was almost sickening. Another huge oak, split and torched. Trees and limbs down everywhere. A huge branch of our linden tree, my most favorite tree in the yard, the one that shades my balcony and where we watch the squirrels nest every winter, fell to the ground (we were glad, however, that it was one of the branches that did NOT hang over the roof). It may have taken a beautiful pagoda dogwood with it. I felt like I was attending a funeral. The damage is the worst I�ve personally witnessed since Hurricane Hugo roared through South Carolina over a decade ago, although fortunately, it does not appear like there was any significant damage to homes or people. Strangely, the lightning storm seems to have been totally localized. It is our tiny village alone that was affected (although others farther away in the county seem to have experienced a similar phenomenon). Driving mere blocks away, there�s no sign that it had even stormed.

The mourning of lost trees aside, our thoughts were primarily concerned with more immediate needs. After all, a hot day with no air conditioning or water is not particularly pleasant. So when AJ awoke from his nap, I packed him in the car and we headed to the toy store to look for something to keep him occupied and that might also be portable enough to take on our trip. He selected this toy, which I have to admit is totally cool. We both had fun racing cars down the tiny ramps until we gave up on the power ever coming back on and piled in the car to go out to dinner at our favorite local establishment. After some good food and wine (for the grownups anyway), the tempers that had been getting a bit raw were soothed and we spent another hour at the library in hopes that we�d have some air conditioning by the time we got home. Alas, we arrived to a dark house, but just as we were trying to figure out how to move mattresses to the cool basement for sleeping, we heard a mighty hum and the house sprang to life once more.

As I tucked AJ into bed, he was still bubbling with excitement � about the fire and the firemen, about his new toy, about dinner at the restaurant and the ice cream that followed, about the trip to the library at a time when he is usually in his pajamas. I fear we may have a very sleepy boy on our hands tomorrow.

As for me, I�m just happy to have the electricity back so I am not forced to read Harry Potter by flashlight. Although I still might. It seems appropriate to the book, somehow.

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