Good article Cass.
I remember or I will never forget the day I was walking out of my front door, under a metal awning, and was holding onto the metal screen door when lightening had come from the ground about 20 feet in front of me. It left a finger like projection in the dirt and my hair even on my arms was standing at attention, straight up. When I got my balance, I went inside the house again, and looked into the mirror above the mantel and saw my hair on my head was full of static electricity. For days, even when I touched my car door handle I would get shocked, and if I touched my kids who were babies then, I would shock them. A very frightening experience.