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
Re-Blogging of this or any other post on The M3 Blog
is expressly forbidden.
Copyright and Privacy Policy available
in The Office.
Next Post
Leave a comment

57 Comments

  1. After reading your script, I do not recall at all what I may have thought at first glance of the train. Now when I look at it I see what see. From now on when I see a train wreck I will always remember the lesson taught here, Red.
    I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
    I love you!
    Hugs xx
    Deb recently posted..MarshMy Profile

    Reply
  2. Massive power.
    Sadness.
    I don’t know. All horrible things seem to grab attention. Perhaps it is a reality check and we are stunned by the devastation.
    Lorre recently posted..Michael Jackson: Newly Released Phone Call from 1995My Profile

    Reply
    • I really should take a better picture of this. My scanner is not large enough to do it justice. The angle he chose for the picture shows how massive the engine is in contrast to the hull of the truck. Many people have never ridden a train to grasp how powerful they truly are.
      Red recently posted..A MelodyMy Profile

      Reply
  3. Life is indeed fragile Red..( the train photo hasnt loaded for me here ) – all of us hang upon our own threads.. thats why its important to weave them well..
    Good luck with your Book Red, I had no idea you had written one.. and I remember the Terrible Twos and TEENS.. .. and perfer the Twos any day!
    Hugs to you my friend.. ~Sue
    Sue Dreamwalker recently posted..Ocean Break..My Profile

    Reply
    • LOL! I think most parents would agree with you. I am hoping to arm the next generation of parents with some secrets to curb that teenagerdom to something much more manageable. So glad to see you tonight, Sue. {HUGZ} Red.

      Reply
  4. A lot of interesting reading here Red, the story on the train wreck is interesting to say the least and at least the children moved on in their lives, the picture to me is explicitly stark and without any words would portray the power of the train against the frailty of human life.
    Ian
    aussieian2011 recently posted..The Wisdom of An Ancient LoveMy Profile

    Reply
    • Saturday is a day which there are no rules to the post and Clyde takes us on an adventure. This photograph has meant a lot to me over the years and is a piece I like to share. Glad to see you tonight (your early afternoon). Enjoy your evening, Ian. Red.

      Reply
  5. It is nice to know that those children survived this terrible ordeal and they must have struggled to come to terms with the loss of their mother, I guess she just panicked, and as the train crushed their feeble truck time must have stood still for an instance.

    Life really is just a sense of here today and gone tomorrow but without being too morbid, her children survived another day and have flourished, even through such a horrible ordeal they have come through it and triumphed.

    I wanted to call back here and comment further as last time I was on your Space commenting on this one it was rather rushed and I like to read a posting so that every piece of writing is absorbed and you truly are a very talented writer that always delivers first class postings Red.

    Have a very nice rest of evening and
    a pleasant start to your Monday also 🙂 😉

    Androgoth XXx

    Reply
    • People say the moment before impact time crawls to a halt. I have often wondered if the feeling of bent time was merely the crowding of all the thoughts, we always have, clamoring at the same level in that moment and being hyper aware of what we think all the time. This one was a thinker. Thank you for returning and adding your thoughts, and for the lovely compliment.

      Reply
      • I had a minor falling-down-on-a-bike accident once, and time really did seem to slow down. I think it may be that we become hyper-aware of everything that’s going on at the time, and thus we somehow gain a little more time to react. Perhaps our brain’s processing power speeds up to give us a better chance.
        Binky recently posted..Party Time JobMy Profile

        Reply
        • I agree we become hyper aware. I wish everyone could harness that higher processing speed without impending doom…many better decisions would be made.

          Reply
  6. Life is fragile, that is a lesson I needed this morning for some reason. One I seem to be losing sight of now and again along the path.

    I love, have always loved the imagery of train wrecks. The force of them for some reason has always set something in me. Perhaps it is the recognition that life is often outside of our direct control.

    You know, I think I am glad I waited till now to read this. I can start today and this week not scribbling nonsense. Thank you and I love you.
    Valentine Logar recently posted..Growing up Texas-My Fathers StoryMy Profile

    Reply
    • I think the ceding of control is often something we do not consider in our mental gymnastics. I love you, too. xxx

      Reply
  7. Wrecks of any kind are fascinating only because they highlight the fragile nature of life and make me appreciate mine. My kids are often oblivious to any danger, sort of like those kids in the story. That just highlights my role all the more. Also, I see an interesting picture for other metaphorical train wrecks. Often they come from the same careless attitude or exhaustion.
    Derek Mansker recently posted..I don’t know it all, but I do know Jesus.My Profile

    Reply
    • My questions about train wrecks did include the metaphorical as well. We often assume whatever disaster is on the track will miraculously pass us by.

      Reply
  8. Thanks for the mention, Red! That was very kind of you (as always)!
    ‘Train wrecks’ always remind me of this old photograph my grandmother had taken… apparently she had witnessed a steam engine rear-end the back of a passenger train (at a high enough speed / with enough force) that it had penetrated a car (or two) ahead of those tossed from the tracks. The kind of thing I’m not sure I could have brought myself to take a photograph of if I had been in her position…
    spilledinkguy recently posted..Water LilyMy Profile

    Reply
    • I am a photographer of the things we are not so certain we want to remember. Inevitably, they are a point of discussion or a learning experience once they are removed from the original story. People who saw this photo alongside the story were not affected in the way people are subsequent to the initial visceral reaction to seeing the picture as a visual aid to the story.

      When I look at war photographs now, especially those from the first half of the last century, they hold a much different feel to me than they do even to those who saw the originals. The removal of the story allows us to put ourselves inside to discover.

      Reply
  9. “‘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.'”

    Words of wisdom. I was really struck by it. The story behind the picture was sad. But I have to agree that it ended with a hopeful note.

    Life is indeed fragile, and, sad to say, we fritter it away in frivolous pursuits. I hope that it wouldn’t take a train wreck for us to realize the things that really matter in life.

    ~ Matt
    Matt recently posted..Living Life, Abundantly at L’Arche IrelandMy Profile

    Reply
    • And if it does…here’s your train wreck. Great to see you tonight (afternoon), Matt.

      Reply
  1. Muse for Monday | Momma's Money Matters

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.