Click for high-definition version!

Somewhere over Minnesota

3pm I just managed to have one of those extra-dramatic "I gotta get on that plane!" moments this afternoon while trying to catch a flight to Minneapolis. And yes, I ran with one shoe on, untied, toward the gate just to see the plane taxi away. My fault for cutting it so close, but also their fault (NorthWest) for not staffing the ticket counter and leaving the gate 25 minutes before the estimated departure time. Everyone should probably have one of these to keep them humble, right? Sheesh.

9pm Half-way there to Lincoln, Neb. The approach into Minneapolis was trying, with plenty of action for the thrill seekers as the dinky prop plane kept slipping and sliding toward the runway. The big Bass ale I drank with dinner has gone straight to my head; I can see lightning in the distance. A jet awaits us.

11pm I've made it! More to follow...

It's the same drill each time. A fire call on the scanner, a quick check of the maps and you're off. I go from puttering around the office on 4 cylinders (there's a lot of paper to be pushed around, right?) to roaring like a turbo-charged, rip-roaring jackal. The situation escalates as I'm weaving in and out of traffic. "Fully engulfed," "roof collapse," "mutual aid" - all jargon telling us this is no kitchen fire.

I'm the first on the scene out of the Peoria media. The NBC affiliate arrives a minute later, with the rest of the ragtag media crews showing up 5-10 min later. There's a lot of smoke and I wonder if I will smell it every time I exhale the next few days. Flames are raging, and I keep circling the scene trying to find some sort of unobstructed angle.

Things are under control by this point. The sky is darkening to a shade reserved for hail and big, jagged lightning. Someone crackles over the scanner with a report of a funnel cloud. I hop into my car and head back to the office, unable to see out of my windshield as the maximum amount of water that can possibly fall out of sky suddenly does, soon peppered by loud, obnoxious hail the size of peas or small marbles.

I'm on edge.

Bell - It's Oh So Quiet

THE NORTH HANGER: Still intact 11:14am, flattened by 11:29am

Thanks to our friends at WCBU on the Bradley campus, I've had a remote camera set up for the past several weeks monitoring the deconstruction process on the east side of the Field House. The result has been a slew of boring frames where little has happened for days on end, punctuated by large sections suddenly disappearing in between shots. I missed the big collapse Tuesday morning by less than a hour, reminding me that I can't always be everywhere at once. Kirk Wessler has some first-hand accounts of the big event.

For those curious, I'm using a spare D1x with a 10.5mm fisheye lens, driven by a PocketWizard set to trigger the camera every 15 minutes. I'll be posting a time-lapse video later this week.

Continue reading...

Parachutes in a blue sky over Peoria (and more)

So much to write about, so much to remember, so much to do. A moment, please.

[Over a cup of coffee] BY STEPHEN DOBYNS

Over a cup of coffee or sitting on a park bench or
walking the dog, he would recall some incident
from his youth--nothing significant--climbing a tree
in his backyard, waiting in left field for a batter's
swing, sitting in a parked car with a girl whose face
he no longer remembered, his hand on her breast
and his body electric; memories to look at with
curiosity, the harmless behavior of a stranger, with
nothing to regret or elicit particular joy. And
although he had no sense of being on a journey,
such memories made him realize how far he had
traveled, which, in turn, made him ask how he
would look back on the person he was now, this
person who seemed so substantial. These images, it
was like looking at a book of old photographs,
recognizing a forehead, the narrow chin, and
perhaps recalling the story of an older second
cousin, how he had left long ago to try his luck in
Argentina or Australia. And he saw that he was
becoming like such a person, that the day might
arrive when he would look back on his present self
as on a distant relative who had drifted off into
uncharted lands.

Source: Poetry (December 2001).

Just call me Rip Van Winkle.

I've somehow managed to sleep through a 5.2 magnitude earthquake at around 4:30am this morning. All the other "Princess and the Pea" sleepers across Illinois were roused from bed, most believing they were being robbed. But that doesn't mean I'm sleeping soundly; no no, I wake at 5:30am and fitfully wrestle with the sandman for the next three hours. I missed the big show and would have to live with it.

I wake again at 11am, check the Internet and proceed to weep quietly into my pillow. A 4.6 aftershock at 10:15am failed to do much at all in my house; I had just made a very unconscious decision to sleep through TWO earthquakes in one morning. I'm left living vicariously through comments on various news articles:

"The quake moved my bed across my room. I woke up and I was awake. I went into the kitchen and got a chocolate chunk cookie. I ate it. I then went pee. After that I washed my hands. Then I got ready for work. I forgot shoes. What was I talking about..."
Posted by SHE---RAHHHHH

"I was asleep during this supposed 'first quake' and in the bathroom at work during the second one. I felt nothing either time. This is all an elaborate hoax by you people to make me lose my mind. Yes that's right - I felt nothing in the bathroom. It was business as usual..."
Posted by Hip Young Gunslinger

"Sorry, It was my new car stereo. I installed eight 40 inch woofers. I needed 2 additional alternaters to keep the battery alive, but it rocks! Again, sorry about all the cracked masonary..."
Posted by Kev

"I was totally playing the original 'QUAKE' when it happened."
Posted by Jeffrey

"When the quake happened, I thought I must be hallucinating. But the unicorns seemed to notice it as well, so I guess I wasn't."
Posted by Chicagoan