When Lightning Strikes

Things I have learned in the past few days:

We are approaching the height of the dangerous lightning season. On average 10 Canadians are killed annually by lightning strikes, and another roughly 150 a year are injured. In the U.S., an average 62 people are killed by lightning annually and 300 injured.

Lightning also causes an estimated 4,000 Canadian forest fires every year.

The month with the most lightning strikes in Canada is July. The average number of lightning flashes each year in Canada: 2.3549 million.

The most frequent time of day for lightning is between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Most people would have guessed the night hours, probably because lightning is easier to spot in the dark.

Fascinating facts on lightning are found at:  http://www.ec.gc.ca/foudre-lightning/default.asp?lang=En&n=73364E34-

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Aboriginal street gangs have become a growing issue in Canada, especially on the Prairies. We seldom read, hear or view much about them in the deteriorating mainstream media, which does little to shine light into huge black holes obscuring what is happening in our society.

Joe Friesen, Toronto Globe and Mail reporter, shone some light on the subject last Saturday with his piece Ballad of Daniel Wolfe. It’s a fascinating and detailed piece on the Wolfe brothers who helped form the Indian Posse back in the late 1980s. It shows the devastation of gangs on Indian youth through the lives of the Wolfe brothers, who were doomed to bad lives from birth. Daniel was born weak and small on one of the nights his mother polished off a bottle of Five Star whiskey.

Excellent work and it can be found at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-ballad-of-daniel-wolfe/article2066018/

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I’ve often wondered how many newborns a mother duck can carry on her back. I found out the other day. The merganser who lives down the shore on our lake was out showing off her 10 new offspring. She had all of them on her back as she steamed along the shoreline, giving the kids their first look at the great, wide world. I don’t know how they all found sitting room. Next week they’ll be paddling on their own and we’ll see them trailing along behind her.