In winter, I get dressed in the dark.

This morning, I got dressed in clothes that were tumbling in the dryer just minutes before--my t-shirt sparkled and crackled with static electricity.

I wanted to see what that would look like if I put the t-shirt on with my eyes open.

My eyelids must have gotten charged up, because right after I screwed my head through the neckhole, a bright sparkle arced across my left eyelashes, bright enough to startle me.

If I didn't know any better, I'd bless the fairies that danced near my face. (And I don't know any better, so I did.)

***

We call it "static electricity." I thought about voltages and arcs and other nonsense that hardly explains what I saw, then I thought about what I saw.

I didn't see volts. I saw bright blue flashes undulating under the cotton, heard the crackling.

While it is fun to think of ridiculously high voltages (thousands!) involved when electricity arcs across my eyelashes--just the sort of pseudoscience nonsense we toss at kids in class--"knowing" the voltage had no effect on what I observed.

If I ever get my physical science classes back, that will be one of my assignments--grab clothes out of the dryer on a cold, dry day, and get dressed in the dark.

I'll leave out the blessing part. I bet some of them do anyway.

Lightning photo by MONDO,via wikimedia, released to public