A Tall Tale...or the Benefits of Being Short!

Growing up, I always yearned to be tall.  My sister and I were surrounded by tall brothers.  Each of them towered over us with their six feet plus height.  She and I were always the recipients of some good-natured teasing by these tall, lanky brothers of ours.  We had to take it in stride and turn the tables on them by asking them to "reach" things for us that we could have easily done so with the step stool. "One of you boys will have to put this box on the top shelf..I cannot reach it."  "One of you tall guys will have to clean the top of the refrigerator..I cannot reach it."  "You tall fellows will have to pick persimmons..I cannot reach them."  It was great!  Susan and I learned quickly that our height issues could be a positive thing!  Whew!  Sometimes being short is not all that bad!

About three weeks ago, we had a tremendous thunderstorm roll through the area. It was one of those loud storms that dumped little or no rain. The thunder boomed and the lightning flashed but always at a distance until one "blast" startled us all! Somewhere near something had been struck.  Thank goodness the Little Bayou House had come through unscathed!  After the storm passed, I headed outside to investigate.  I could find nothing that looked any worse for wear so I assumed that the strike had been further away than I thought.  Everything looked fine and I could smell no pine sap which would be a telltale sign that a pine tree had been the victim of the lightning strike.  The incident was soon forgotten and all was well on the Bayou.

Fast forward to today!  I was on the pier enjoying a bit of late afternoon relaxation when I saw an egret flying over the Bayou.  Although there was nothing extraordinary about that, watching it caused me to see something else.  On the other side of the Bayou, the tallest pine tree was burnt to a crisp!  The brown of the needles was in sharp contrast to all of the green leaves of the other trees.  Ahh, now I see what the lightning chose as its target.  I had always heard that lightning strikes tall things more often than things lower to the ground.  Obviously, this must be true.  This lone Loblolly Pine tree stands a good twenty feet taller than the surrounding Live Oaks and Black Gums.

Ok, brothers dear, this just goes to show that sometimes it truly pays to be short!  I have embraced my shortness and it is wonderful!