Goodess, gracious! in At the foot of the hill

Great balls o’ fire!
About 8:45 last night our house was rocked by what sounded like a large bomb going off. This thunder clap was accompanied by what some of our neighbors described a ball of fire in the middle of the lake. Yes, it was lightning. Too close. It knocked out our fire alarms and elevator. Most of the residents in our wing gathered in the hallway, comparing notes. The RA was called…but the guy on duty lives off-campus and it took him half an hour or so to show up. In the meantime, our friendly neighborhood fire department showed up and began to check the premises, just in case. Fortunately, they found nothing. They told the RA he’d have to get an electrician to reset the fire alarms. (Did I mention that our “real” RA, the one who actually lives here, had a heart attack earlier in the week and is in the hospital.) The process of the alarms going off triggers the smoke alarms (different than the fire alarms) to send out a chirping signal to indicate that they are not working. Very annoying. Finally, about 11:30, that ceased and we were able to get a good, if short, night’s sleep.
Who says our lives aren’t exciting?