Early morning thought processes...

Waking up at 4am was not on my list of things to do today. In any case, here I am, awake, since 4am, with my not-so-partner-in-crime, Maddi.

This isn't her right this minute...but this is what she looks like after waking up at 4am. I, however, do not. So you won't see a picture of me here.

Maddi and I aren't necessarily on speaking terms at the moment...since, you know, she woke me up at 4am without any intention of going back to sleep. So, what have we done since 4am? Well, we started out back in her bed, because trying to get her back to sleep isn't a bad idea, right? Sure. Whatever. Instead of going back to sleep I taught her about lightning. And thunder. Because that's what was going on outside her window. Every .03 seconds there would be a flash and she would gasp, "Who's dare?!" and then every 8 seconds the rumble of thunder would rattle her window and she'd exclaim, "Whassthasound?!" And that's how I found myself explaining the process of lightning and thunder to a two year old at 4am. It's also how I stumbled upon an unsettling question and the purpose of this post.

I'm sure I could google this, but what's the fun in that? I'd rather just share my 4am ramblings with you on blogger/facebook/twitter (wherever it is your finding me). So, while explaining to Maddi about Benny Franklin and his kite in the lightning storm I had an errant thought (because they come from every direction when I've only had four hours of sleep). While the lightning flashed, so did my memories about all the West Texas thunderstorms I'd experienced the majority of my life. Thunderstorm season usually correlates with softball season out there and numerous times, from the age of seven to twenty-four, I can recall having to clear the metal bleachers of fans because why? Well, no one wants their butt to fry by a freakish bolt of lightning. Why does this matter?

Well, remember it was 4am, and I'm laying in my kid's bed which is surrounded by rails. You know the kind? Their initial purpose is to keep one's child from rolling out of their bed at night because children never stop moving, even when sleeping. And they're metal-like (I don't know my alloys so I don't know what kind it is) and I had a moment--thinking back to the softball bleachers--and wondered if it's safe to be laying in my kids bed that is surrounded by metal rails when there is a lightning storm raging outside.

My face was similar to this.

Sure, this isn't one of those things I should really be worrying about. I'm sure all are completely safe from the lightning and that these measly, metal bars aren't sending out signals to the bolts of electricity surrounding the house. But, again, it was 4 am. 

And now you've been included to my morning thus far.