What does "Shy Lightning" mean?

Before I say anything about how I picked the name "Shy Lightning", I should probably tell you a little story.

I used to be afraid of thunderstorms. I'm not talking a little frightened, I'm talking hide-under-the-table-with-a-blanket-over-my-head-and-hands-over-my-ears terrified. I remember waking up one night at my grandparents house in Bremerton, Washington (where there aren't a lot of thunderstorms) screaming on night because I thought I'd heard thunder. Turns out, it was someone across the water setting off fireworks, probably as part of a birthday celebration. I believe was around the age of six.

I stayed terrified right up until I was cured in Montana. Polson, Montana to be exact. My mom, step-dad and I were on our yearly two-week camping trip. At the time, we had a 22 foot Alpenlite 5th wheel... I remember it well because it had big windows. Anyhow, Mom and I were swimming in the pool at an RV park at the south end of Flathead Lake while waiting for the laundry. It'd started out sunny with gorgeous blue skies. Nothing to worry about, right? Then the clouds started diving in, the sky turned gray and the first flash of brilliance blinked in the distance. Mom told me to get out of the pool, so I did. Within an hour, I was hiding under the table in the 5th wheel with my step-dad's little schnoodle Shelley, cowering under a blanket as the sky lit up every few seconds with bolts of lavender-colored lightning and my ears were filled with the loud roars and rumbles of constant thunder.

I can't recall what finally brought me out of my hiding place, but something drove me to the window beside the bed in the "attic" of the 5th wheel. Whatever it was, I'm glad it did, because I was rewarded with one of the most spectacular light-shows I've ever seen. I was fascinated. And I have been ever since. I still haven't seen a lighting storm quite as vicious and active, but there was one that came close.

In the spring semester of my freshman year of college – I believe it was late April of 2001 – I was sitting at my computer screen, trying to come up with a new screen name. The web-based e-mail I'd been using was going away and the screen name I'd had (Silversage) was already taken. And I couldn't just tack a number on the end. That would be too unoriginal for me. The sky outside my dorm room could best be described as dark and moody. According to the Weather Channel's website, Dillon, Montana was in for a rough evening of mid-spring thunderstorms. My roomie and I decided to take a break and go outside. A storm was moving its way up the Beaverhead Valley, lashing the sky with purple lightning. As we stood there watching it through the tall old cottonwoods and white poplars on campus, a thought struck me. Lightning is shy. Thunder grumbles and rumbles for quite a while, but lightning flashes once, maybe twice and then it's gone again. I had my screen name. And it wasn't taken.

So, when I decided to build myself a little home on the web, there was only one name I could use. And, eight and a half years later, I'm still Shy Lightning.

What is the site for?

That's a good question. For the most part, it enables me to share my writing and photography, particularly with my family and friends (and the odd browser who happens upon it). It also serves as a home on the web for some of my writing references and a list of my favorite links in case I'm not at home on my computer with my handy-dandy bookmarks. Someday, it might host a log furniture business or a photography print business, but for now, it's just my site for my stuff.