Big Days That Change Everything...

"A tragedy is a tragedy, and at the bottom, all tragedies are stupid. Give me a choice and I'll take A Midsummer Night's Dream over Hamlet every time. Any fool with steady hands and a working set of lungs can build up a house of cards and then blow it down, but it takes a genius to make people laugh."

~Stephen King

I have heard it said, many many times, that comedy and tragedy go together, hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. I believe that, for the most part, having lived through my own various tragedies, some as recent as a few months ago, when a friend committed suicide. At the time, there was nothing funny about it! 4 months later... there is nothing funny about it! But having fully transitioned the five stages of grief now, and having finally settled into acceptance, I understand that maybe one day some strange spark of humor will catch me off guard. Shrug. In some of my deepest grieving, I have found humor, and in truth that humor saved me. 

Yesterday I woke up to a strange Deja vu feeling, as I listened to CNN's coverage of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over the Ukraine. Initially there was reporting that the flight had gone missing, just like Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 did last March, but soon it was confirmed that indeed Flight MH17 had crashed, and then later it was confirmed that it had been blown out of the sky. There was nothing... nothing... that could be construed as humorous in the situation, and yet there I was making stupid jokes. Oh not about the crash per se, but rather the humor that was coming to me had to do with the fact that I have given up on the idea of ever flying commercial again! Or private jet for that matter! 

I joked on Twitter that I was done with flying, and when I do decide to finally see London, I will simply ride my bike there! Good plan! And when Alan and I finally do that trip to New York City, well my preferred mode of transportation will be the handy dandy Segway! Hey, it could work, right? I mean if someone could walk to New York, or ride their electric wheelchair, then why not a Segway? It would be a living HELL over the Rockies, but whatever, I am willing to give it a go! See, there's that humor, nervous humor to be exact, that comes out when I am anxious, or scared! Inappropriate? Perhaps, but essential to my staying sane.

Selfish much?

Maybe... maybe not. Shrug. I am giving myself a break here. I am trying to remember that different people handle tragedy differently, and I am no exception.

Actor Jason Biggs got himself into a bit of trouble on Twitter yesterday for a series of tweets with a humorous spin regarding the crash. I thought he was fine, I wasn't offended by what he said, but it bothered some folks and they were more than happy to let him know! I don't know... I don't think he was trying to harm anyone, or hurt anyone, but I think we, the human race at large, has been subjected to so much tragedy since 9/11, personally and collectively, that we are raw when it comes to times like this! We can't grieve for each other, that is a personal journey we all get to ourselves. We can be there for each other, we can relate, we can sympathize and empathize, but at the end of the day, we all must deal with the tragedy and absurdities in our own way. 

It's a lonely feeling isn't it?

Maybe we can just all try to remember to be patient with each other.

As a point of irony, I read about a young man, a passenger, who tweeted a bit of humor, just before boarding the doomed flight. He was referencing the missing Malaysian Flight 370. I can only imagine that he also used humor to help him through the anxious moments of life. Sigh. His name was Cor Pan and there is a Facebook Memorial page for him if you would like to leave your respects. Yeah, I think trying that idea about using a little patience with each other might be the way to go.

Patience... a good thing in times of war. Both our internal conflicts and those of the world.

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

Have You Seen Today?

(Asiana Flight 214 with 3 Denbeste Water Solutions Tanks In The Forefront)

"No matter how many plans you make or how much in control you are, life is always winging it."

~Carroll Bryant

Alan and I went back to BayFront Park, in Milbrea yesterday, to take one last look at the wreckage, still sitting on the runway of Asiana Flight 214. On my first trip, last Saturday afternoon, just hours after the crash took place, I could barely make out the tail portion of the aircraft that had come to rest on the back of the runway. It was late afternoon, and the lighting was very bright, but today I could get a better look at it. It is still a surreal sight to see the tail so far behind where the plane eventually came to rest!

I feel so sorry that all those people had to go through that horrific event. My heart goes out to the flight attendants. Those brave young women preformed miraculously under the depth of pressure that most of us will never, if we are very lucky, experience. Honestly, I am not so much how I would be under those circumstances, but I will never forget how much better the whole situation turned out due to their diligence and response under extreme pressure!

They are absolutely the truest, most elegant examples of heroism!

Here are my photographs from today...

 
(The Tail Section From Asiana Flight 214 Still Resting On Runway 28L)


(A United Airlines Flight Taxiing Past The Wreckage Of Flight 214)


(The Surreal Sight Of Two Planes So Near Flight 214)




The San Mateo Bridge As Seen From BayFront Park, Milbrea Ca.

Yesterday was my last chance to visit BayFront park, and document for myself the events of last Saturday. Late last night the NTSB allowed airport maintenance to begin removing debris and begin repairing the runway so it can reopen as soon as possible. It's a good thing. It's time to move forward I suppose. It will certainly be much more difficult for some than others. I will always remember this event, and my heart will always sink a little as I drive past the airport. It's simply not something that is easily filed away in my conscience. You know what I mean?

It didn't happen to me. I didn't know anyone in the crash. But in a way it drove home to me just how fragile everything is. I keep thinking about what a gorgeous day last Saturday was. It was one of those days like 9/11 when before I answered Alan's call, telling me the dreadful news, I had a moment to admire the late summer, nearly autumn sunshine, and cool gentle breeze moving my curtains so very gently. When I heard his voice say, "Carly... are you okay?" it made me laugh, because the first thing I thought of was, how could I possibly be otherwise? Have you seen today?

It's going to be a while, maybe years, before we learn what the cause, or causes of the crash of flight 214. I am trying to not make up my mind early, because you just never know what may have gone wrong. I think instead I am going to follow along as information is made available, thank GOD a little more for those I love, and thank GOD once again that there are special people like those flight attendants who keep their wits about them in the face of tragety! We are all better off because of them!

"Courage Is Not The Absence Of Fear, But Rather The Judgement That Something Else Is More Important Than Fear."

~Meg Cabot

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

On A Clear San Francisco Day... The Crash Of Asiana Flight 214

San Francisco International Airport October 30th, 2012


"How strange is this combination of proximity and seperation. That ground... seconds away...thousands of miles away."

~Charles A. Lindbergh

Yesterday, the San Francisco Bay Area was experiencing a beautiful, mild, summer day. There was a cool slight breeze, which was a very welcome relief from the searing temperatures of the previous 6 days. The heatwave had finally ended! It was beautiful out my office window, I couldn't stop looking at how the sun made the roses in my garden almost glow. Then it happened. The little bell on my cell phone alerted me that I had an ABC News Breaking News report... "An Asiana Plane Has Crashed At SFO." Oh my... how could that be true? On a day like this? I glanced out my window, and sure enough visibility across the bay was amazing. Clear blue sky, little to no wind. Perfect, except for a dark plume of smoke. How do things like this, happen on days like this?

I turned on the news and saw the horrific pictures from the crash site, but this time there were also pictures of folks not only walking away, but one person had her carry on bag, and her handbag with her! The next few hours consisted mostly of following along with the reports on CNN, ABC and Twitter. Just seeing the shape the plane looked so bad, it was hard to believe anyone could have survived, let alone literally walk away from the crash. As the day wore on we learned that the injured had been transported to hospitals throughout the Bay Area, and nearly half as many lost their luggage, but escaped the crash uninjured! Uninjured?! A true miracle! Well, except for 2 sixteen year old girls who were thrown from the back of the plane upon impact.

So sad.

While watching the coverage I couldn't help but think about last October, when Alan and I were fortunate enough to be able to fly directly over SFO when we took an aerial tour of the San Francisco skyline and bay for our anniversary. Our pilot, Captain Dan, told us that it was highly unusual to be able to fly directly over the airport, but on this day there was very little sky traffic due to Hurricane Sandy. It had not occurred to me that a storm on the east coast would effect flights at SFO so profoundly. I learned a lot from Captain Dan that day, I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. I have had a lifelong fear of flying, but for whatever reason I was intrigued about flying in the single engine Cessna, and jumped at the opportunity. I wasn't even a little bit scared, indeed it will remain one of my favorite adventures shared with Alan.

I thought about that adventure while watching the news, and just knew I had to go see the crash for myself.  When Alan got home, he and I made the trek across the bay to Bayfront Park in Milbrea. The park sits just south of the airport and directly across the small inlet of water, from runway 28 L (Left) where the crash occurred.

Here is what I saw...

Asiana Flight 214 SFO July 6th, 2013




The Tower At SFO



Spectators

 

The Press





And Finally A Lufthansa Flight Waiting On The Runway To Depart. It Was A Moment Of Normal, As The Airport Had Been Closed To All Traffic Since The Crash Occurred.



Finally, Here Are Some Google Maps Images To Give You An Idea Of The Runaway Where The Crash Happened...

 



"Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane, and the pessimist the parachute."

~Orson Welles

I have shared with you before that my father was an aircraft mechanic, and he was also someone who refused to fly... period. When I was a little girl I asked him why he hated the thought of flying, when he worked on planes every single day? My dad, being the straightforward honest man that he was, simply smiled and said... "Because I know which bolt has to fall off the plane to bring the whole thing down." LOL. It was a sound argument that gave me chills for years, and possibly could have fed my fear of air travel. But by the time I was 20 I had been in 3 car accidents, one of which the car rolled and ejected my brother through the windshield. His wisdom rang true, but so did the statistics that air travel is still the safest way to get from here... to... there.

Don't worry, I wasn't the driver of the car in any of the accidents, but I did decide one day, not all that long ago, that I wanted to take the fear by the horns and lose that unnecessary baggage from my being. Last October, there I was, up in the air, flying along in a small single engine plane, having the time of my life! And even after this disaster, I would like to do that again one day, only maybe on a day with a little more wind so I can feel what less than perfect conditions are like. It's the only way to take the fear out of the fear. Experience it! But the thing I can't seem to get past tonight is the fact that those two young ladies who were killed today, who were so young, made it safely through a 10 1/2 hour flight, only to perish in the last 10 seconds before they touched down.

It's so sad. And something I won't forget. Especially when I remember that conversation with dad.

:(

Mood: Quiet



~Me