love to the cities.
helpless. i feel completely useless out here.
but only today, when i flipped on the news to see my beloved minneapolis under fire--a 35W bridge, 4 lane, collapsed at the height of rushhour.
really, there is nothing to do. i didn't know of the scope of the disaster until i watched the news and simultaneously listened to the WCCO streamed radio. i saw the bridge, concrete and steel, crumpled like a piece of paper, partially submerged into the mississippi river. when i saw the cars, i looked closely at them to see if i recognized any of my friends' vehicles. disasters like this never crystalize in reality until they hit close to home...and i spent at least an hour with my stomach twisted, wondering if my friends were safe in the cities or if they were being broken out of their underwater cars, alive or otherwise. immediately the mind wraps itself around the worst possible scenario...and as i tried to contact my friends, and couldn't get ahold of them because of the clogged signals. finally, before my phone died, i made contact with janine, who was fine...and right before it beeped off, molly called. throughout the night, i heard from others who live right in the neighborhood or close by especially chilling was when ellen and rachel called. ellen was a few blocks away, and immediately heard all the sirens from the local stations rushing. rachel, on her way to a clay class at the university (right near the collapse), missed it by 10 minutes or so. i could hear the stress and tension in their voices, even when ellen did a funny voice and asked about my day. she called the atmosphere in the cities "like a mini-9/11, without the terrorist stuff." it's true. we sit all day in the comfort and routine of somewhat mundane lives, and when things like this happen out of the blue, they shake us. and, in some ways, (and maybe tritely-so) bring people together.
i wish i was closer to them, so i could help or do something.
but, minnesotans are some of the best people i've met. they will make it through this with that unbreakable, undefinable spirit. with love to MPLS.
but only today, when i flipped on the news to see my beloved minneapolis under fire--a 35W bridge, 4 lane, collapsed at the height of rushhour.
really, there is nothing to do. i didn't know of the scope of the disaster until i watched the news and simultaneously listened to the WCCO streamed radio. i saw the bridge, concrete and steel, crumpled like a piece of paper, partially submerged into the mississippi river. when i saw the cars, i looked closely at them to see if i recognized any of my friends' vehicles. disasters like this never crystalize in reality until they hit close to home...and i spent at least an hour with my stomach twisted, wondering if my friends were safe in the cities or if they were being broken out of their underwater cars, alive or otherwise. immediately the mind wraps itself around the worst possible scenario...and as i tried to contact my friends, and couldn't get ahold of them because of the clogged signals. finally, before my phone died, i made contact with janine, who was fine...and right before it beeped off, molly called. throughout the night, i heard from others who live right in the neighborhood or close by especially chilling was when ellen and rachel called. ellen was a few blocks away, and immediately heard all the sirens from the local stations rushing. rachel, on her way to a clay class at the university (right near the collapse), missed it by 10 minutes or so. i could hear the stress and tension in their voices, even when ellen did a funny voice and asked about my day. she called the atmosphere in the cities "like a mini-9/11, without the terrorist stuff." it's true. we sit all day in the comfort and routine of somewhat mundane lives, and when things like this happen out of the blue, they shake us. and, in some ways, (and maybe tritely-so) bring people together.
i wish i was closer to them, so i could help or do something.
but, minnesotans are some of the best people i've met. they will make it through this with that unbreakable, undefinable spirit. with love to MPLS.