Beautifully written, Sandy. I love your many uses of electric imagery throughout the story. Now I want to see ball lightning — from a safe distance, of course. I can remember testing an electric wire fence, like the one around Lance’s pasture, with a stalk of green grass to feel the slight pulse, rather than using my hand. My horse Jubie, who was shorter than Lance, would ignore the shock of the wire as she dashed under it. I could not trust leaving her in there with Lance.
I am enjoying your imagining Ben and your grandfather creating together. It reminds me of further experiencesf I know of. One was a lady down the road from Edenvale near Vancouver B.C.. She raised chinchillas which have a very soft, delicate and prized fur. Her remedy to harvest them was to cut off an electric lamp cord, split the two wires, place alligator clips on each end and connect the clips to the ears of a chinchilla. When she then turned on the switch I imagine the dear little animals limbs stretched straight out as they jumped out of their skin! She would then mix the pelts in cornstarch and keep them in the freezer ready for sale! My own fascination with electricity as a very young boy began when I discovered a tiny little empty light socket at the back of an old pull out record player. Of course I stuck my finger in to see what was there. My memory of the incident ends there. However my mother. remembers a blood curdling scream and finding me on the other side of the room! To this day any experience of currents elicits that same scream. Ben and your grandfather were disruptors of their day.
I enjoyed the first story most of all. The "girl struck by lightning" an opening chapter in your next novel!
Beautifully written, Sandy. I love your many uses of electric imagery throughout the story. Now I want to see ball lightning — from a safe distance, of course. I can remember testing an electric wire fence, like the one around Lance’s pasture, with a stalk of green grass to feel the slight pulse, rather than using my hand. My horse Jubie, who was shorter than Lance, would ignore the shock of the wire as she dashed under it. I could not trust leaving her in there with Lance.
I am enjoying your imagining Ben and your grandfather creating together. It reminds me of further experiencesf I know of. One was a lady down the road from Edenvale near Vancouver B.C.. She raised chinchillas which have a very soft, delicate and prized fur. Her remedy to harvest them was to cut off an electric lamp cord, split the two wires, place alligator clips on each end and connect the clips to the ears of a chinchilla. When she then turned on the switch I imagine the dear little animals limbs stretched straight out as they jumped out of their skin! She would then mix the pelts in cornstarch and keep them in the freezer ready for sale! My own fascination with electricity as a very young boy began when I discovered a tiny little empty light socket at the back of an old pull out record player. Of course I stuck my finger in to see what was there. My memory of the incident ends there. However my mother. remembers a blood curdling scream and finding me on the other side of the room! To this day any experience of currents elicits that same scream. Ben and your grandfather were disruptors of their day.