Unbelievable. I'm sure by now most of you have seen reports and footage of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. I didn't hear of it until about 1 AM, when The Hermit got up for midnight Web surfing. Actually, I had talked with my grandma on the phone earlier in the evening and she mentioned something about how my dad had crossed "the bridge that went down" earlier that day. It didn't occur to me to ask her; sometimes she gets a little confused about things, and I just thought she was talking about some small bridge somewhere.
This wasn't no small bridge. It is THE major north south route through Minneapolis. I was on it two weeks ago when we picked up the new car.
As far as I know, no friends or relatives were involved. My prayers are with those who were.
7 comments:
Deb - I just read the New York Times story about the bridge. I thought of you immediately and came to your web site to wish your friends and relatives in that area well. I'm glad no one you are close to was involved. My prayers, too, are with those who were. My son moved back from Minneapolis in Jan. and is trying to reach friends there this morning, but the phone lines seem, understandably, to be jammed.
It's just so overwhelming. I've sat in rucs hour traffic there more times than I can count.
I'm glad your friends and relatives are safe.
It is so strange to think of 35W just being GONE. I worked the overnight, so ended up staring at the TV all night while they re-played footage from earlier in the evening. I wanted to look away, but couldn't. I feel just horrible for the people who just don't know about their loved ones.
I used to fish for catfish under the shadow of that bridge, relishing the contrast between the busy rushing cars overhead and the slow pace of what I was doing. As somebody who has spent some time underneath that bridge, I can tell you that those people took a hell of a drop.
I was exiting off of 35W at Stinson ave. at 6:00 PM last night to pick up my wife from work. If for whatever reason I had been headed into downtown, I figure from the traffic delays due to the construction I would have been somewhere on that bridge when it fell.
We were watching the news when that came on as a late-breaking story. I freaked as my sister, husband and three kids live in the Minneapolis area and it would not be unusual for any of them to be on that particular bridge at that particular time. But she e-mailed to let us know they were all ok. The collapse was horrible; it just stunned me to see it. I feel for all the people hurt or worse, or involved in any way. You know, weird as it sounds, I have had long-running stress dreams involving bridges and water!
Pam- thanks. The probability that any particular person in the Cities was on the bridge at the time is pretty small, but still there's that nagging "what if" feeling.
Lynne- I could not sleep for a couple hours after hearing the news.
Barefoot Gardener- That's part of what gets me too--soemthing that's so familiar to so many of us is gone, just like that. It breaks my heart thinking of those who have loved ones unaccounted for.
Terry- That was a little too close for comfort! And good thing you weren't fishing there.
Momadness- When I finally got back to sleep after hearing the news, I had a dream I was driving one of my usual routes home, on the short stretch of I35 between two exits, and I encountered some bumps that sent me airborne. I could feel the sensation of falling in my dream, and I woke up dizzy. Empathetic dreaming perhaps?
That particular bridge never bothered me much, but there are two bridges between Duluth and Superior that I drive on once in a while, and one of them is so high, with only about 3 foot tall barriers, it gives me the willies despite the fantastic view.
My parents are over there right now visiting relatives, and have been since mid-July. It is really horrible, but I was also relieved to find that no friends or family were involved.
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