"The warm sun had melted much of the moat around the lake and the ice dwindled to just a thin layer along the edges. It cracked badly as some team members tried to get off. Aaron, Brenda, and Sara walked around much of its edge looking for a place to safely walk ashore. They decided on a rather steep shoreline near Blood Falls, maybe one hundred yards across from our camp. Aaron decided to gamble with the ice first and we all held our breath as he started to cross. He took only two steps before plummeting through and sinking over five feet,clear up to his chest. [ed note - insert Homer Simpson "D'oh!" here].
"He managed to scramble his way onto the slope. Within seconds, Jake was yelling for someone to get Aaron's towel. I dashed into his tent, grabbed the towel, and handed it to Jake. He sprinted across the stream, water filling his boots and reaching his knees, but managed to get the towel to Aaron. Meanwhile, Sean also went into Aaron's tent to get him some pants and a jacket, and then he too crossed the stream to deliver the dry clothes. We all felt bad for Aaron and I was shivering for him just watching the whole thing. But it is also nice to see how much we support one another and how quickly people are ready to help each other whenever necessary. As for Aaron, it wasn't exactly fun to take an unexpected dip into such cold water, but I admire his ability to take it all in stride, as if it were just one of the risks of being here. We all laughed a bit later in the evening recalling the event and our frantic reactions, but feeling relieved that our teammate was now safe and warm... O.K., maybe just warmer!"
Jebus! Poor Aaron. Let this be a lesson to you boys and girls... NO SHORTCUTS!!!
A lot of people have written rather eloquent pieces on the Columbia crew, reflecting on their heroism and the demise of the team in the unfortunate accident. There are strong feelings on both sides of the fence, the "they were heroes and wonderful people" kinds of posts and the "so what -- people die all the damn time. What about the sailors on the USS Cole, or the four people who got blown up at their jobs in a factory in North Carolina this week... or the seven kids from Canada who died in an avalanche on a school trip. What makes astronauts heroes more than anyone ELSE on this planet?" posts.
I won't add to what's already been said. I am not entirely sure how I feel over all. There has been this national and over sentimentalized worship of the dead which bothers me deeply whenever something "big" happens. I don't want to piss anyone off by getting into a whole spiel about hero worship and postulate whether or not these astronauts are "heroes" in the sense that they were doing their job, which by the way costs us half a billion dollars every time a shuttle goes up into space (but that's a whole other spiel I could get into, but I won't).
I like the space program. It was an integral part of my childhood recollections, being a child born in 1966. I think that space exploration is cool, and has given us medical advances and views of the universe which are just spectacularly rich and wonderful.
I hate to say, but when a plane crashes with 300 people on it, it's kind of humdrum and old news. That happens all the time. Perhaps there will come a time when the shuttle will be as humdrum as I thought it had become. Still an unfortunate event, but... hey. A part of life.
The vision of Homer and Bart trying to change the channel as a shuttle launch is getting ready to be broadcast comes to mind. That makes me laugh and smile. I love that Simpsons episode... And the writers nailed it on the head. We as a nation just didn't really give a rat's ass about space, astronauts, exploration, any of that stuff. It had become routine, even somewhat annoying.
But the realization that this is a high risk position, that it isn't like ejecting from your seat in an airplane (really, I've heard reporters ponder "Well, what if they had parachutes? Could they have survived if they ejected from the vessel?" Uh, Mary Jane Reporter Asshole, at 40 miles above the earth's surface in the freezing atmosphere, moving at 12,500 miles per hour, I doubt they'd survive... but I digress).
I feel badly for the families, but they all seem so in control and understanding. I wish as a nation we'd behave with the same decorum. Unfortunately, it just isn't that way.
God speed to you, astronaut types there. You died doing something you loved. You lived passionate lives. For that alone, you're heroes. May we all be surrounded at our last moments with that which we are passionate about. And know in our hearts that we did our best.
Where've I been? It's been days since my last update. Busy days at that. Let's recap, shall we?
He smells nice, he coos and talks and laughs. The best part about going to Dan and Honey's is spending time with my friends Tiger and Buddy.
When the guys and Michelle came over for lunch we decided to play Cranium instead of Uno for a change, and Dan and I kicked ass. It was wicked fun.
Looks like I'll be babysitting on Fridays until I get a job... Dan paid me well, and I like helping a friend who needs a hand. So I'm in it for the long term.
Amy? Wanna come over and play next week?
Here are my good friends Tiger and Buddy, doing what they do best. While Ben slept, me and my dogs lounged on the couch watching the A Team. It was awesome.
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I woke Buddy (the yellow lab) up when I took this picture. She was snoring like mad and the sound of the camera kind of got her eyes open... but she quickly fell back asleep. I love Tiger (the chocolate lab) and the way he gets all cozy on the couch.
I ended up on the love seat.
And, to irritate me beyond belief, my camera stopped working while we were at the museum. I haven't been able to get the lithium battery to take and keep a charge, so I switched over to regular batteries. I put fresh ones in, and the camera turns on for 2 seconds and powers off.
I can't figure out for the life of me why it's doing it. Anyone out there have expert experience with the Sony Cybershot, let me know. I would hate to lose this camera, because we don't have any money for me to buy a new one... and I'm lost without it. Meh!
That picture at the top of this section of the drawing of the armor masthead which stands at the top of the building is the last picture I managed to get out of the damn thing. Ooooooh am I pissed!
Saturday night my friend Rupa had a bunch of the gang from the college over for dinner. We left the museum and took backroads up from Worcester (rte 110) to where Rupa lives, because we had over an hour to kill before her party. It was a gorgeous ride, cloudy, foggy, spooky, very New Englandy... And I saw some places I'd like to visit again.
Dan, Honey, Baby Ben, Brian and his wife & kids, Ben and his girlfriend Amy, Peg and her husband, us folk, and Rupa, her husband and 16 year old daughter all had a great time eating delicious Indian food and hanging out on a stormy yucky night.
Brian's kids were so into the baby, my kids took off with Rupa's daughter and played upstairs. Her daughter was so kind to mine, and my kids really really liked her.
I ate way too much, and Rupa foisted leftovers upon us, which were gleefully consumed here. Thank you Rupa Rupa for having all of us over to your wonderful and beautiful house!
Sunday I slept in very late.
We didn't do much here. We were supposed to get a couple inches of snow Saturday night after the rain turned over, but we ended up with over 7. The kids and I built a small but very silly snowman. We had a ton of fun... it was warm and wonderful, the kind of winter day I like.
The house seems to have stopped leaking, for now...
Today I substitute floated at Geoff's school, it's a job that I greatly enjoy and I'm getting to know the kids all very well. They love when I come to the classroom and a couple teachers have commented that it hurts their feelings when the kids cheer my arrival.
What can I say? I'm the best!
In other news, Tess had mentioned to me that she discovered Richard Shindell... he's one of my all time favorite singer songwriters on the planet. I had turned her on to Peter Mulvey only because he was coming to her hometown to do a show and I wanted her to go see him live. She's gushed on and on about Mr. Mulvey in her journal... and now she'll get a chance to do the same for Richard, as he'll be in Alaska this spring with Lucy Kaplansky.
Seeing as I'm so madly into Richard Shindell, I was disappointed at first when he teamed up with these two women. I never really cared for Lucy's voice or songwriting. And Dar, well... I found her to be pretentious and annoying. Some of her songs were near and dear to me ("When I was a Boy" is an unbelievable song, and "The Babysitter's Here" always makes me cry. And "The Christians and the Pagans" is an interesting Christmas song...) I was reluctant to give this CD a listen when it came out. One of my former co-workers who I also knew through my coffeehouse days handed it to me one day and told me it was the best thing she'd heard in years.
I took it from her and listened to it at my desk. I didn't get any work done for three days.
I cried in my chair.
I sat there crying on several occasions, because the music and lyrics and voices were all so fantastically woven together, that if I didn't cry I'd scream.
The purpose was to spotlight singer/songwriters or particular songs that each of the three of them love. I wish to hell they'd put out a second edition.
They do "Fall On Me" by REM with Dar singing a gorgeous lead. It sounds a little too poppy and canned at times, but it should have been a radio hit for them. On our local radio station it was... they played the shit out of it for a while.
James Keeleghan's "Cold Missouri Waters," features gorgeous guitar layering and a vocal performance by Richard that is beyond the pale to me. It is a song about the first use of a controlled burn in a forest fire, and the result... one man survived and his team perishes on the ridge above the river. Very sad but Richard's voice is so rich and delicious on this track. Ron Sexsmith's absolutely gorgeous "Speaking with the Angel" features Lucy on lead with Dar harmonizing, and is a touching song written for a new baby. It's a fabulous album, and I sure hope that Richard and Lucy are able to do some stuff from that in addition to their own work. Richard will be in my own hometown in April. I'm thinking we need to make a trip down to see him at this particular venue. He'll be somewhat in this area over the next few months, but I'd love to see him in this particular theatre in NY because it's just a nice place to hear music.
I adore Richard Shindell. I found him to be a genuinely sweet and funny man with a sick and twisted sense of humor and a follow-up smile that betrays the little boy within him. He's a fabulous performer, a man who understands and plays the blues in deep and spiritual ways. He can weave a song out of a wisteria plant missing from a front doorstep, or the birth of his child, making his personal life and the lives of characters he creates come to life with a realistic vision... And if he comes to a town near you, you have GOT to go see him. I do not lie.
Dar is good too. Go see her.
Anyway -- I cut my finger earlier today on someone's pudding lid (shudder... pudding. I still have horrible recollections of pudding!) and now Jessie is struggling with the dishes. I should go yell at her and stand behind her criticizing her technique. Mwah ha ha ha.
Have a super day.
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