fire escape & tragedy…

I have never been on a fire escape. I take them for granted. For some reason, I took this shot of a fire escape in Seattle. This prompted me to dig a bit about the history of fire escapes. That lead to a 1975 Boston tragedy/miracle involving a rubbish burn pile, building fire, attempt rescue and collapse of a fire escape. A reporter captured the attempt rescue and fire escape collapse.

Below, a firefighter stands on the fire escape with a woman and her god daughter. Moments latter the fire ladder is raised and the firefighter gets onto the ladder in preparation of assisting the woman/child off the fire escape.

Boston firefighter Robert O’Neill is seen with Diana Bryant and Tiare Jones, age 2 years, and helicopter pilot Joe Green, above, prior to the fire escape collapse that would kill Bryant, at 129 Marlborough St. on July 22, 1975. Photo Stanley Forman

Then Boston Herald photographer, Stanley Forman captures the heart wrenching tragedy of the collapse. Forman received a Pulitzer for the images. 

Diana Bryant died from her sustained injuries after falling five stories. Little Tiare Jones landed atop Bryant and survived, although injured. Below, a firefighter performs mouth to mouth on the girl.

Follow the light…

seeking deliverance

swirls of darkness and babble

love and truth in light

Disconnected & Weary….

Are we distracted, weary, numb, overloaded, disconnected? We blame it upon work, money, the system. But are we perhaps disconnected from truth & reality while over saturated with the meaningless distractions of ‘culture’, manipulative agendas, relentless narratives? Stone smiles and flat eyes….  Just wondering….

Inquisition….

Oh are you a true believer?

if you aren’t the machine will punish…

the full weight of the State, the talking heads and screamers

will make you obey. You must obey, you have no say.

Double standards and hypocrisy far and wide

Paving the way for atrocities and violence.

Do you have rights…not man given rights?

Do you? Do I?

What goes around comes around…not a good way to be!

 

the sentinel against the storm….

the sentinel stands

silently we go along

insanity looms

dealing with the devil

ignorance or arrogance

either way chaos

Darkness approaches….

Difficult to contemplate…the temptation, the impulse is to turn away and draw upon one’s need for love, harmony. The daffodils push up and offer hope. But, almost like a false Spring, the evil on the horizon cannot be ignored much longer. We are so tired of conflict. We quickly offer excuses for evil. Quick to blame ourselves as a whole than come to terms with profound darkness looming on the horizon. It comes and all one’s reflexive ‘blame us first’ will be swept aside in the realization that only a very dark response will crush like darkness taking our minds and hearts into long forbidden realms of reality. 

Beheadings, incineration in a cage, children waiting to be burned alive…hard to write feel good encouragements, while we go to great lengths to ignore and lack the moral clarity to denounce true evil in our midst. We turn upon ourselves in almost orchestrated distractions of name calling and indignation over self absorbed life styles.

I don’t expect many ‘likes’ or supportive comments for a post like this. Most will turn away, staying immersed in their positive karma bubble. Some will stop following. Some may even chastise with the reflexive admonitions.

I am disgusted by what I see. Islam’s evil spawn abroad and in our midst must be called out and denounced. Weak kneed sympathizers & apologists will rue the days they listened to the manipulative Muslim Brotherhood & CAIR. Allow yourself to be more than sad or aghast when the children are torched in the cage. Get fucking mad!

I want to just study the daffodils, the new growth on the roses and smell the daphne. Their beauty seems less able to offer escape today. My warrior instincts stir when all I want to do is see the roses bloom or watch the geese fly over head returning to the nearby fields.

Kennedy Assassination recollection

It was lunch break, shortly after 12:00 on November 22, 1963. I was standing to the right of these doors in my high school (Washington High~Portland, Oregon). The Principal came over the intercom and announced to the student body and teachers, that President Kennedy had been assassinated. It was a stunning moment. Perhaps innocence was kicked in the teeth that day for me and for many others I’m sure. I can think of few other tragedies that has had such an impact. So, when something revives a recollection of the Kennedy Assassination, for ever three things pop into my head: the President and wife sitting in the back of the limousine…the somber funeral procession…and where I was standing by the school doors in the hallway when the announcement came over the loudspeaker. 

Last night, we had occasion to view the refurbishment of the old Washington High School. It will now be a commercial/events venue. The second I saw those doors in the hallway that odd moment in life popped into my mind. One of those “I remember where I was when I heard about…”

Hold onto the Light…See the Beauty

fortiter in re, suaviter in modo

gently in manner, strongly in deeds

Making the News

Our granddaughter, Desirae, while with family at a park in Portland, was asked by a local news crew if she would like to participate in a segment on back to school thoughts. She readily agreed and the rest was a fun experience for the family…and especially Desi.

Tour de France, 2014

My yearly, obligatory “I love the Tour de France.” I rarely ride a bike. I certainly never raced with a bike. But, as I say each year, the scenery of the various historical structures adjacent to the race course are spectacular. Too, after many years of watching the race, the commentators are a known factor and I enjoy them as well. Today, Stage 14, is from Grenoble to Risoul. My favorite stages of the tour are the mountain climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees. The final climb today is 19 miles up. The congregations of insane spectators the insanely tired riders must navigate is always a rewarding viewing of human kind at a sporting event….crazy! This years race has been brutal with many of the top contenders wiped out via crashes, but still it holds my attention as new stars emerge. It takes a while to understand the individual/team strategies, otherwise it just looks like a large group of riders.