Saturday Evening Post

Another week in the calendar…and what an adventure it was! Silver linings were everywhere this week. Grab a cuppa. There is a pitcher of lemonade and some coolies, so sit under one of the fans and let’s talk. Clyde has been itching to bring something up to us.

Delayed & Derailed

Original Cover Art

The fender bender of Tuesday, and the ensuing fixes on Wednesday and Thursday, derailed my project of going live with T3 this week. Never fear. It gave me an opportunity to stink eye it one more time. I also got the chance to rethink the way I had the original cover art. I am deciding whether or not to change it, since I adored it for the original release.

There have been oodles of people tell me the book does not apply to them because their children are grown or they have none. I beg to differ. What T3 holds is a simple psychology which works on children of all ages, and most especially on those who reside in an arrested state of development.

When I floated the notion toddlerhood is directly proportional to teenagerdom, many people scoffed at me. I just kept telling them the world was not flat. Soon, the book will be out again in support of precisely how simple it is to change the relationships of those in your present by merely understanding why they do the things they do.

While we are talking books, go ahead and take the new poll.

Stats

Public Domain use of movie poster compliments of Sony Tristar

Move along, citizens. Nothing to see here.”

Oh, right, I am not supposed to actually write that. *sigh*

So, with the Stats Market Crash, now officially known as Brown Tuesday, there are very little stats to report. The bug made comments crawl to a standstill, and the stats were mostly in the red. For a brighter note, the search engines are finished spanking M3 for not being at their disposal earlier in the week. If the trend continues, we will be back on course by around Wednesday.

If you have not visited with this week’s writer, please stop by and meet Karen. She got caught in the switches.

Get With The ART!

Oh. My. Word. The M3 Readers are the most creative people assembled in the blogosphere. If you missed Thursday night, take a few moments to scroll through Creatively Speaking It will open in another tab, so you do not lose your place here. There were some fabulous ideas floated for both M3 and for Redmund Productions.

Some of your ideas will require the use of outside sources. You really, truly do not want to see what I come up with for a caricature. Definitely…not my genre. Which is what makes me über-glad I have the talents of Lizzie, Bearman, Deb, Cat, Binky, SIG and many of the other very talented and genre-capable artists who frequent M3. Not to mention the massive creative imaginations of MJ, Red, Loon, Soma, Val, Barb and the hatemailers who all floated ideas.

I will be building some concept art, which hopefully will be ready to put to a poll by next week’s SEP. If you have not sounded off, please do. Remember, the thrust is not M3, but Redmund Productions.

Right Turn, Clyde!

Right turn, Clyde.

Someone quipped to me this week they knew what Clyde would bring to the SEP this week. Some mumbling and tittering ensued about Leave me alone! All I can say is, Oops! I do not read the script.

Ironically, that last line could well be a RTC subject, but not this SEP. See, I knew on Wednesday (like I normally do) what Clyde would turn us to tonight. Alas, derailing is the theme this week. So, let’s talk about Clyde’s Friday idea.

Train Wrecks

What is our fascination with train wrecks?

Admission: I have this print of a train wreck which I have had hung in my house since the day it happened more than 15 years ago. The photograph (which this photograph does not do justice) is stark. You cannot see the rain drops running down the roof of the truck or appreciate the spider-webbed bit of windshield left hanging from the header.

Can you see the rip in the center of the seat where the bench was broken? Do you see the white surgical glove on the remains of the door in the lower left corner?

My former husband, an AP award-winning photographer and graphic arts professor, took it on assignment for a newspaper. It would run in 12. After he took it, he went to the studio and developed the film. When he brought the picture to the layout editor, he told me he stared at it for a long time. He got up, returned to the studio and brought home the 11×14 print which still hangs in my home today.

Years later, I asked him what the photograph meant to him. He told me this.

It shows me how fragile life really is. How much we take for granted. How stupid we can really be.” He paused. “It shows me we are not invincible.”

The Story

On a rainy morning, a mother and sister and their five children climbed into the little truck and headed out to drop off to work and sitters. They stopped at a traffic signal, with the  truck resting on the tracks. Mother was tired and did not think twice about waiting for the light on the tracks.

The engineer blew the train’s whistle. She tried to put the truck in gear to get it off the tracks, but, in her panic, stalled the truck. She struggled to get it running again as the train ground the brakes trying to stop the eight passenger-laden cars and two engines. Sparks from the wheels against the tracks flew into the mist.

In the ten-second interval between the whistle and the impact, no one knows what she thought. Onlookers heard the screams of the sister and the children, who were excited to see the train, never grasping the danger.

The children and the mother were transported to the hospital. The following morning, the mother would join her sister in the morgue.

Move along.

What is our fascination with train wrecks?

Is it the long time we have to avoid them, which we choose not to do? Is it the mental gymnastics we do in the interval between the whistle and the impact (which fails to testament our intellectual prowess to avoid the consequences of situations we knew better than to enter) which makes us believe it will never happen to us?

Is it we think we would never put ourselves in those situations? Do we marvel at the thoughts which occur or fail to occur to those in the wreck? Are we consumed with the destruction? If we are, is it solely because it could have been avoided?

My Slice

Unlike most who view this photograph, I come away from it with a profound hope. Over the years, that hope was realized. The children who were in the truck graduated high school. A few have children of their own. The closeness of those children was solidified in a moment of disaster and the ensuing chaos of the remaining adults in their lives scrambling to create some level of normalcy in a world without the single mothers.

I come from it appreciative. Rather than judge the driver for her folly, I am acutely aware of the measures I must and do take to protect my children and those who are in my charge. I appreciate not carrying the burden of putting others in danger. I appreciate the gravity of ensuring safety.

I come from it aware. My ex was right. Life is very fragile. When we treat it disrespectfully, it can easily cease to be ours.

I come from it focused. The moments when we are not sucking the marrow from each and every situation is time we have thrown away. We must find the enjoyment and fulfillment in even the most mundane of endeavors, lest we close our books of life with empty pages and those with scribbled nonsense no one will ever care to remember.

Until next time,

Red Signature

~~~~~~~~~~


What does the image of the train wreck bring to your mind? What is your initial feeling at the thought of fatality? Why are we fascinated by train wrecks? Answer any of the questions from above, as well.

© Red Dwyer 2012
Image of train wreck © Thomas R. Poole, Jr. and
the Hammond Daily Star
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57 Comments

  1. Give us a concept and let us see what we can do with it.
    Bearman recently posted..Editorial Cartoon: Bully PaybacksMy Profile

    Reply
    • I am going to. I am collate all of the ideas now. I have some which are in my inbox, an artist who asked me to afford one more day, three ideas which are offline altogether…

      Reply
  2. I always refer to it as the Terrific Twos. Two year olds are a great deal of fun, and so full of energy and curiosity. Of course I was just borrowing them, so I didn’t have to deal with all their issues.
    Binky recently posted..Cycle Of TimeMy Profile

    Reply
    • One of the key elements in the book is to allow yourself to identify with their discovery.

      Reply
  3. Hi Red,

    This sums it up perfectly and I don’t think that anyone can add anything else to describe it better.

    “It shows me how fragile life really is. How much we take for granted. How stupid we can really be.” He paused. “It shows me we are not invincible.”

    I agree with the quote already offered…

    Have a lovely weekend Red 🙂

    Androgoth XXx

    Reply
    • I think he will be interested in knowing there are others who agree with him 😉

      Reply
  4. I have faced mortality and accepted it as the final exit from an intolerable situation only to be saved to be victimised and abused for another year before the final violation.

    It is not what we attain when we die that matters it is what we leave behind.

    I believe that if you do enough good then you are remembered and it is these actions, good or bad, that define who we were when we lived.

    One day the inevitable will occur and leave us all hearing the final whistle as the train of mortality plows into our transport with absolute finality…

    Love and hugs my friend! 🙂

    Prenin.
    prenin recently posted..Friday – The shopping arrives.My Profile

    Reply
    • I agree. Actions always speak louder than words. I am harsh enough to hold out The thought does not count. In my mind, had you thought about it well enough, you would have done it properly. (Yes, this only applies to adults, as children often lack the ability to do full scale.) Aye, one day the whistle does blow. {HUGZ} Red.

      Reply
  5. WOW ……
    just wow ……….

    I am gonna send you some LOVE MAIL on Monday ………
    what an amazing site You have and even with all the yukky mail —-
    YOU RISE BABE XOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOX
    RIGHT ON XOXO
    Catxx
    Cat Forsley recently posted..Happy weekend ! Happy almost Canada Day! xo CatMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Why does the truck always stall on the tracks? When I was a little girl my brother and I had some 45s from my mom and we would listen to them over and over again… Big Bruce was,…ok nevermind that..one of then was Teen Angel.. and I always think of that song when I see train wrecks. I think in the last few seconds I might think Wow I hope good intentions aren’t really what paves the way to hell…
    The book being fitting for all stages of life.. yup I can see it.. and two year olds and teenagers.. I wonder that it is so hard sometimes for some to relate the information to anything other than what it is stated as in the title .. its almost as if they can’t grasp that… there can be more to it and if you expand your boundaries… maybe there might be answers to things you didn;t even know to ask… I dont like things in neat tidy little boxes with bows.. I like to mess them up and rip the paper off…. as far as anything profound about the train picture… I just feel a little sad… and reminds me to be grateful and take joy in as much as I can….
    Much loves …Lizzie

    I am drawing…
    Lizzie Cracked recently posted..Gratitude is Not That Hard, Mid-Afternoon Mental MomentMy Profile

    Reply
    • The review my editor gave of it was really funny, especially since even his grandchildren were older than toddlers. He had fun and learned a few things 😉 <3

      Reply
  7. Train wrecks make me shudder. I saw one of those really big dump trucks filled with gravel that was hit by a train traveling at over 50 mph. If no one told you what it had been, you’d never know.

    Few things match the potential energy of a moving train. I don’t know why people are fascinated with them. Perhaps the incredible destruction? We humans are fascinated by such things. I think that fascination speaks to knowing our own mortality. Your ex was right, a train wreck reminds us of how fragile life really is.

    MJ
    MJ Logan recently posted..HeroMy Profile

    Reply
  8. P.S thank you for the mention.
    MJ Logan recently posted..HeroMy Profile

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  9. Train wrecks always remind me to look both ways 🙄
    Friggin Loon recently posted..Tom Cruise’s Creepy Marriage FactsMy Profile

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  10. ‘There is a lesson in everything’ is the thought that came to me when I read this post, Red. We just need to be more aware…
    Tom recently posted..Size MattersMy Profile

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