The sound of a boom shouldn’t have surprised me because I was driving with headlights on during early afternoon due to the blanket of gray overhead, growing darker by the minute. Glancing around this narrow road, the Kancamagus Highway, twisting through the White Mountains, home territory, but nothing seemed familiar.

I sent a worried glance toward my wife in the passenger seat, who was dozing peacefully. I sighed heavily as the inevitable rain began to chatter on the SUV’s roof. Anxiety rose.

As lightning flashed, scenery began to take on a clarity of focus. Relief lightened my burden.