On the Tragedy in Florida

We Can Sometimes Be Our Worst Enemies

A condominium building collapsed recently in Florida. A great many lives have been lost and the building is no more. It is difficult to conceive of sitting in one’s living room listening to a podcast, and then plunging to a crushing death in the next. Not here. Not in America. This isn’t supposed to happen. But it did.

Commissions will meet, inspectors will inspect, investigators will investigate and someday, the story will be told. There are already reports of known structural damage, of plans for mitigation, and of inactivity in pursuit of those plans. Some reports indicate that the condo association board when made aware of the necessary repairs, sought to assess owners for the cost. They failed, and were then replaced (reportedly).

Florida—contrary to our popular news media—is and has been a well-run state. If indeed reluctance on the part of condo owners played a part in setting the stage for this tragedy, it will be interesting to see what sort of policy/legislative measures are proposed there.

Fourth of July

We bunked a few friends for the weekend and hosted a cookout for two dozens on Saturday night. The weather mostly cooperated, only deciding to rain on things during the second round of burger cooking. One spot up river had a really big bash on Saturday night, and our neighbors (who throw wicked good parties) had one on Sunday night with a DJ, an Indian food truck, and fireworks. I was walking with our group over to the Sunday party when we heard the barking of our little Zuzu, who, along with Baloo (our other dog) and Stewie (our friends’ dog) had escaped into the front yard.

Zuzu

I was drafted into returning to the house and securing the animals, although Stewie so thoroughly enjoyed his time on the lamb that I had to keep after him for about fifteen minutes. When I finally got him and brought him into the house, Stewie did not react well to the fireworks, panting heavily and jumping in place with each successive boom. So I sat with him and my (unconcerned) dogs to help him with his firework anxiety. Needless to say, I missed the show.

Earlier that evening, I responded to the summons of the masses (ok, one guest) for a reading of the Declaration of Independence, something that is an annual thing around here. Instead of reading it myself, I grabbed this little ditty from Youtube recorded at the scene of the Declaration’s birth. Although there are a few problematic readers (by modern sensibilities), it is a thoroughly enjoyable rendering.

A Moment for Greatness

Can we all agree that we are living in a special time when athletes of this caliber are able to display their awesome prowess?