The boys wanted to go to a park today. We didn’t really want to watch them playing on the swings for a couple hours, and Gabriel wanted to be outside, so we compromised. Afton State Park had an open house so entry was free and we figured we would walk down to the St. Croix River. The weather was good, so it seemed just like the thing to do.
High-tension electrical towers run though the state park and Afton Alps, the adjacent ski resort. We drove under the power lines and through all the parking areas to the very last one, nearest the path to the river. I parked near the walking path and we got ready for the hike. Gabriel was walking ahead of me, but everyone else was still standing by the van. All of a sudden, Gabriel yelled “Ow!” and said his neck was hurting. His neck was red on one side and the neck muscles were tightly tensed up. I was thinking it was a food allergy or a bug bite or something of that nature, but I was confused about the instant, intense pain. I touched his neck to see if it was swollen or rashy and he screamed and jumped.
I asked him some questions to figure out what was causing the redness and pain. Then I touched his neck again and noticed something I felt the first time I touched his neck, but somehow didn’t understand enough to really consider, something that I would describe as a vibration. I could feel Gabriel’s body vibrating, literally vibrating. What in the world? Here we were, just standing in the parking lot, with grass and wooded land all around us, taking in the natural surroundings when, out of the blue, Gabriel’s neck started to hurt with intense pain, and I could feel his body vibrating.
I told Heather to come right away and check him out, because I was confused about what I was seeing. So she came over and put her hand on his neck, and he screamed in pain and jumped again. Heather said the same thing; she could feel Gabriel’s body vibrating. By now, he had tears in his eyes and he was obviously scared. We just didn’t know what was going on, but he was clearly feeling intense pain and discomfort. Parents want to protect their children, and we were trying, but we couldn’t understand what was happening.
Then, it dawned on me. We were standing in the parking lot, directly under the high tension power lines. Could that somehow cause this??? I studied electronics and worked on electromechanical equipment for more than 20 years, but I never saw anything like what was happening here. Years ago, I learned that electrical conductors and power lines are surrounded by electromagnetic fields and electrical resonance. But I never heard of anything like this! I told everyone to walk to the other side of the parking lot, away from the power lines. Literally, immediately after we walked away from the vicinity of the power lines, Gabriel said his neck wasn’t hurting anymore. He could touch his neck… no pain, no discomfort at all.
Okay. This is an eye-opening experience for me. Sure, everyone has heard the story about some guy taking a fluorescent light and standing beneath a power line and the bulb lighting up. If that actually happens, I don’t know; I never tried it. But, this I can assure you: I never heard of anyone standing under a power line and experiencing a feeling of being electrocuted and the accompanying physical symptoms, e.g. muscular tension and cramping caused by contact with electricity. Maybe Gabriel is just particularly sensitive to such effects. I have no idea… that is purely speculation on my part.
I am still thinking it over, but I don’t entirely understand this. Why didn’t I feel this electromagnetic or electrical field? Why didn’t it cause me any discomfort? I can only figure it had something to do with our shoes. Maybe when we stood under the high tension power lines, Gabriel’s body somehow picked up an electrical potential, but his shoes were not well-grounded because of the rubber soles. As soon as Heather or I touched his neck, he screamed in pain and we could literally feel his body vibrating the way you feel an electrical power transformer vibrate. I figure that our shoes had better conductivity and so the electrical potential in Gabriel’s body was discharging because of our shoes, or some variation of that scenario. I am unsure why neither Heather nor I felt the electrical field effects but we both felt Gabriel’s body pulsating like electricity was passing through him.
I hated seeing Gabriel in pain, especially not understanding what was happening and how to make it stop. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this. I don’t understand how the electrical power lines caused this, but it is clear that somehow, the power lines definitely did cause it. That makes me wonder about the possible negative health-related consequences of exposure to the powerful electromagnetic fields that surround high-tension power lines.
Thank goodness we don't live particularly close to any of those gigantic high-tension power transmission towers.
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