It was kind of a weird morning - The Bridge was international news and "Are You OK?" phone calls/emails were pouring in - for me and for everyone else in the area. (It was also an odd morning at work, as we waited for everyone to come in, and tried not to worry about those who were late).

I’ve been over that bridge many many many times – and it’s so close to where I work that everyone has a “what if” story. I know people who were just a few blocks away when it happened, a co-worker drove over the bridge 20 minutes before the collapse, and some friends of mine saw the splash). So many people use that route that almost everyone around here has a “close call” story. I myself was planning to be on it yesterday during rush hour – I was meeting people in a northern suburb and googlemaps told me that was the most direct route from work to meeting was 35W. Luckily a co-worker caught me googlemapping (on a work computer) and decided to pester me about it. In the course of our chat he asked where I was going and how I was getting there. When I showed him the map, he reminded me about the awful construction (and how it is made more awful during rush hour) and suggested I take an alternate route to northern suburbia.

It's impossible to know if I would have been on the 35W bridge when it collapsed into the river - but had he not wandered over to my desk, AND asked where I was going, AND suggested a different route, I would have been in the area somewhere around the time it happened - which is a little freaky. (I’ve been referring to Nick as “The Man Who Might Have Saved My Life!” I’m thinking about recreating that Brady Bunch episode and follow him around being overly-helpful for a couple of days until he goes crazy and I get to save his life in return!)

It's odd to see SO MANY news crews around town. News crews from around the world are here today – I was by the river this afternoon (I had a meeting at the University) and a few of their parking lots have been turned into Media Shanty Towns - - it’s a sea of newsvans, satellites, cameras, and such. There's also quite a few of them around the hospital - - and it's just weird. (Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, etc are ALL RIGHT HERE!)

I feel a little guilty - today I've felt the best that I've felt since Aunt Judy died - I was hungry, and laughed and generally enjoyed myself all day long. It's odd that I should feel good after a tragedy (but I'm going to run with it!)

And now, I'm going for a bicycle ride by the river to see what I can see (this is also known as "gawking")!