Changing the world - Day 41

Today I did a good deed that not only failed miserably but could've got me killed! I am not joking. An apocolyptic storm rolled into Woodend at the strike of three o'clock. I was having a read of my book club book 'One Day' and was most content. My husband was in the lounge room sorting his affairs and the baby had just been rocked to sleep when a bolt of lightning lit up the house like an x-ray. Before I could fully reigister the severity of it a thunder clap shook the house to it's very foundations and chased me from my recliner.

I caught a glimpse of my husband crouching in the middle of the lounge room floor as I sprinted towards the baby's room to soothe his no-doubt petrified nerves. (He wasn't fussed at all as it turned out). At least he wasn't until he was in my arms as the next lightning bolt struck and exploded our fuse box. I screamed like a harassed maiden and the baby burst into tears. Frenchy flew hither and thither trying to find candles to light. It looked like the depths of a moonless night outside.

At length I resolved to do my good deed. Much like that fearless heroin in 'Twister', Helen Hunt, I decided to step out my back door and into the eye of the storm with nought but a camera phone set to video. I wanted to capture the raw fury of nature to teach future generations to respect her all-encompassing authority.

After I stopped squealing with each lightning strike I managed to get a rollicking good commentary going. The eerie darkness, the regular bursts of forked electricity, the earth-shaking thunder and the mad tradesmen who continued using power tools outside at my neighbours house were providing an exceptional light and sound spectacular. After a while I realised that I was freezing. The earlier mild temperatures had vanished and an icy wind was whipping around me. I retreated inside and touched the record / pause button only to see the little numbers begin ticking over. I had not been recording at all! Oh the injustice! My soon-to-be Walkley winning video report at the eye of the storm was a mirage. A cruel phantasm.

I returned inside dejected and cold. The sky had begun to break up and the foreboding darkness of earlier was washing away in the growing light. My good deed was non-existent.

What was I to do instead? Fortunately a couple of things presented themselves to me as it turned out. Though the power was out I was still able to access the internet via 3G and saw that Oscar's Law had a new set of e-mails for me to send to parliament. So I did that. I had also received an e-mail from AVAAZ to sign a petition to stop a highway being built through the protected Amazon rainforest in Bolivia. I did that too. A couple of very worthy causes. I have attached both the links and encourage y'all to check them out if you haven't already.

Avaaz - http://www.avaaz.org/en/bolivia_stop_the_crackdown/?cl=1289828810&v=10466

Oscar's Law - http://www.oscarslaw.org/act-now.php

Until tomorrow, if we haven't washed away (as much of our newly-planted veggie patch has :-(

xx