"They should have sent a poet."

Things you can learn on the Internet:

Early Greeks believed that lightning was a weapon of Zeus. Thunderbolts were invented by Minerva the goddess of wisdom. Since lightning was a manifestation of the gods, any spot struck by lightning was regarded as sacred. Greek and Roman temples often were erected at these sites, where the gods were worshipped in an attempt to appease them.

The Moslems also attributed lightning and thunder to their god. The Koran says "He it is who showeth you lightning and launches the thunderbolts."

Scandinavian mythology alludes to Thor, the thunderer, who was the foe of all demons. Thor tossed lightning bolts at his enemies. Thor also gave us Thurs-day. In the pantheistic

Hindu religion, Indra was the god of heaven, lightning, rain, storms and thunder. The Maruts used the thunderbolts as weapons.

Umpundulo is the lightning bird-god of the Bantu tribesmen in Africa. Even today their medicine men go out in storms and bid the lightning to strike far away.

Even Santa Klaus gets into the act with his reindeer Donner (thunder) and Blitzen (lightning).

Things you can learn in real life:

At some points in your life you have those moments where you know you are seeing one of the most beautiful, rare things you will ever see. Tonight we experienced that. We've filmed it so hopefully you can understand. The rumble of thunder has been constant for 90 minutes now and what you'll see is lightening from one view in video one to show how often it was striking and from a 360 view in the second video so you can see how brilliant and all encompassing it is.

I find myself unnerved by the frequency, strength and rumble and yet drawn and overwhelmed by the illumination. I stand all amazed.