South Main imploded

...right on schedule this morning. This is the moment I sat straight up in bed.



The still capture above is taken from H's video of the implosion.

My 8-Ball

...was posted today. 8-Ball is Jonathan Ball's new series of interviews with artists. The eight questions he poses are dandy. Going by my response to the first question, I'd say I was hungry at the time.

The implosion

...of the South Main shaft will happen tomorrow. The mine shaft, sunk in 1939, is less than a kilometre east of our house. Here's a photograph of what the South Main headframe looked like all the years I've lived here held against its current pre-implosion state.


A press release in Friday's paper details the sequence of events and approximate times:

5:15 a.m. - Commence road closures and secure the site at 350m radius.
5:25 a.m. - Blaster in charge will check all guard positions via radio for security concerns
5:29 a.m. - Blaster in charge will make final security check and go to radio silence. One minute warning will be sounded with three short blasts from the siren. From this time on only security personnel may interrupt the blast due to a breach in security.
5:29 a.m. - 10 second warning will be sounded with one long blast from the siren followed by audible 10 second countdown.
5:30 a.m.- Blast imminent.
5:35 a.m. - Blaster in charge will check blast area for any danger and will then disband security personnel.

Yesterday a crew was going around putting up signs. They were pounding one in a few feet behind us as I took this pic. It was eerie.

So tomorrow morning, before 5 a.m., people will make their way to the designated viewing areas to watch this landmark go down. I don't know if I'll be among them or if I'll stay home and calm the cat. I'll likely just sit here until the dust settles.

Three versions of "Turtle"

...by Ian LeTourneau sit before me right now.


The poem first appeared in The Malahat Review in 2005. Then in his chapbook Defining Range in 2006. Then in his book Terminal Moraine in 2008. I just spent time comparing each version. What a joy it is to place the three "Turtle" side by side and see the changes. How the poem grew. This is one big reason why I love literary journals. Why I love chapbooks. This is the kind of thing I do on a Friday afternoon.

*
We saw some pigeons when we went for our walk this evening. They were perched in their usual location. I chuckled at the sight, thinking of the science news story I read yesterday titled "Pigeons as art critics? Pigeons, Like Humans, Use Color And Pattern Cues To Evaluate Paintings."

From where I sat

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Things are looking up

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