The traffic going northbound was completely frelled, basically not moving a bit except the left lanes of our great big northern pipe out of Atlanta. Luckily, my commute is all ABOUT the left lanes so I slid over there and puttered home at about 10 miles an hour.
I ended up behind an asphalt truck. It had this long strand of asphalt hanging down off the back of a closed pipe on the tank. It was about a foot below the pipe, dangling and swaying in the wind.
I sat and watched it through Adam Lambert, switched channels and listened to Korn. Switched Channels and listened to Ceelo Green and then flipped around until I hit some traffic news.
The strand got longer and longer, eventually it was dragging, bouncing and twirling along the interstate.
I watched it for about an hour, and as I got close to where the highway splits I could see several helicopters hovering, and then back away as one flew upward and away. Lifeline.
"Well," I thought. "That can't be good."
I flipped channels and watched the long strand of asphalt dance. I kind of wondered how long it would be before it broke off. I decided I'd watch it until it popped off. That would keep me entertained on my commute.
I got an eyelash in my eye, and looked to the side as my finger extracted it and I gently cruised forward at about 2MPH.
When I looked forward again, a split second later, the asphalt had broken and the strand was gone.
At about that same moment, the semi next to me pulled forward and I got a perfect view of why the interstate heading north was closed. There sat a semi, surrounded by police of various ilk. There was a motorcycle about 20 yards away, there was still a turn signal blinking. No one had turned it off. It had intended to go left. There were clothes scattered, some under the truck tires.
The news confirmed what I knew as I sat there stopped in a perfect place to take in the scene. Someone isn't coming home. In the blink of an eye, a life ended, lives changed and everything is different for some people I don't know.
In the blink of an eye. You can miss everything.
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