Where would all the Faeries Go?

We decided to take an impromptu trip to visit relatives in Massachusetts this weekend. We took a different route on the way up, along the shoreline. It was the most ugly road I have ever traveled on. Although the ocean was less than a half-mile away, the landscape was marred by cement and machinery. My head was full of nostalgia and fanciful notions from reading the Anne of Green Gables series. In that time and place, one would walk for miles through the woods to get to a friend’s house. Technology was not present to interfere with social calls and the aesthetics of nature. I started thinking about faeries. If they could live on earth, where would they live? I looked in various groves of trees, trying to picture little pixies trying to make their abode there. How could they stand the noise and pollution? No, they would likely be pushed further and further north, quite possibly to Prince Edward Island.

[Note: I do love bridges and have included this painting of the Throgs Neck Bridge at Sunset because that is the bridge we took; it was the road we took through otherwise lovely Connecticut that spoiled things for me. ]

A watercolor by Antonio Masi, "Throgs Neck Bridge: Sunset.", 2006

The Minnesota Bridge Collapse

Americans take a uniquely optimistic view of tragedy. We look for the silver lining. We congratulate ourselves on our generosity and our “coming together” to support one another. We are thankful that the result was not any worse.

Last night I sat glued to the television set as the story of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis unfolded. On Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor”, a father stood by his daughter and spoke of “the Hand of God” reaching down and placing his daughter’s school bus (pictured above) within safety while the bridge beneath fell into the Mississippi River.

I just read that the children were on their way back from a swimming field trip. Just think about that for a minute. This story is so unreal. The school bus landed on all four wheels. Like in a movie, where the unspoken rule is to not let harm come to the children. We all breathe a sigh of relief. If the young ones are okay, all is well in the world.

Tonight my prayers go out to the victims of the Minnesota bridge collapse, and for their families. I pray for safe travel for families as they vacation this summer. As school approaches, I pray for the safety of children on school buses everywhere.