The big news in Fargo this week has concerned the fate of a group of 85 local Roman Catholic parishioners, clergy, and their relatives who were on a pilgrimage to Israel.
The group was in Jerusalem when the bombing started, and for some reason they fled to Bethlehem where they holed up for a few days with the fighting happening just 45 miles to the south.
Yesterday they managed to get on three buses and made their way through multiple checkpoints until they were able to walk to safety in Jordan. I can’t imagine how frightening that must have been. They are scheduled to be back home in the next couple of days, many of them facing 40 hours of travel with their plane connections. It could have all gone so much more badly for them.
When have you or someone you know had a close call with disaster? When have your travel plans changed significantly?
Trail Baboon 
Friend and her family in Maui. Although she works on the Wailea side of the island, she lives on the Lahaina side. Luckily they don’t live right in Lahaina. Took about a week to hear that they are all safe.
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I-65 between Indianapolis and up toward Chicago is a dangerous stretch of highway. The road surface is in constant need of repair. I was driving north on it and came up behind a slower moving vehicle that was pulling a trailer. I was getting ready to pass but another car went around first. The trailer in front of me hit a rough spot and swung out into the path of that passing car. I was able to stop and avoid a multi-car pile up. Fortunately, no one was injured. It could have been me.
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Yikes!
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My cousin in Panama City, Florida, has been in the path of one of the hurricanes in recent years – luckily they only had some roof damage to their condo building. He (an engineer) was able to help plan the repair work.
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I remember flying from Mpls. to Denver in 1981 when Joel was 6 months old, to meet my folks and sister (who, being from Calif. was seeing him for the first time). On the way back, we got bumped from our flight and were routed to the next one, which added several hours in the airport with a baby. It was not a good day, but they did give us vouchers for a future (free) flight.
[Unfortunately, this trip interrupted his sleep patterns, where he had just started sleeping through the night. Didn’t happen regularly again till much later… ]
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Imagine families at home during wars.
Clyde
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I only knew two young men personally who went to Vietnam. Both brothers of friends of mine. Fortunately, neither of those young men came home. Brutal.
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I think extricating oneself from harmful relationships also is a way to avoid disaster.
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Yes. Thank you.
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A few years ago when the N. Calif. wildfires were in and around Redwood Valley, houses on block from Step-Son’s house were on fire. I never did learn whether they were total losses, but he must have had some kind of guardian angel…
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Listening to Ann Reed Live From Somewhere in Her House. It’s like having her in my living room:
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I love that song so much! It’s a great song and it brings back so many memories.
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I’ve been in the Grand Marais area this week. On my way up here on Hwy. 61, in the area near Silver Cliff and in heavy traffic, I was going along as fast as I felt comfortable in a congested construction zone when I noticed a vehicle pulled over on the opposite side of the road. I got a sudden feeling of an urgent problem when I noticed this, and returning my gaze to my own lane, I realized that a small deer was barreling down the highway in my lane, directly toward me. The deer was really directly in front of me and very close, maybe about 10-20 feet away. I slammed on the brakes, hard, and swerved to the right shoulder, cars piling up behind me. The little deer passed me next to my driver side window. It all happened so fast that I didn’t get a good look at it but I had the sense of terror and a foaming mouth. I don’t know if it made it through the traffic and off the highway. I kept going but once I got through the tunnel, I had to pull over at the rest area and walk up the hill and breathe for a bit.
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Yikes!Glad you weren’t rear-ended.
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