Boom

Boom

I stepped outside this morning and saw it immediately: a huge, black mushroom cloud rising above the jagged rooftops across the street. A second later I heard a loud thunderclap, combined with a strange whooshing sound. I felt that acidic, twisting, 9/11 sensation in my stomach: fear. The black cloud was moving toward me, and I stepped back into the house. I stared out the window for a couple of minutes, then turned on the radio. There was nothing about it on the news, but I thought it was probably too soon for it to be reported. Outside the window, tiny snowflakes seemed to fall for a few seconds. I began to hear sirens. But cars were moving and people were walking by as if nothing was wrong. The cloud seemed to have dissipated. Something had obviously exploded, though. There are chemical factories near here, I thought nervously, but then I decided that the cloud had looked too close to be one of those. I went outside and noticed a faint smell of diesel fuel in the air. Sirens were wailing, but that's not unusual here in the city. No one within sight seemed concerned: a woman wheeled a baby stroller by and a man across the street was laughing into his cell phone. I went about my business, thinking that perhaps I would read about a gas-station explosion in the next day's paper. Or that maybe I had imagined the whole thing (cue Twilight Zone theme song). But a faint cloud of fear followed me for the next hour or so -- a 21st century feeling, I decided.

Postscript, September 30th: Nothing in today's newspaper about the explosion. There are spots of white powder all over the cars and fences in the neighborhood, as well as my backyard deck. A guy who was cleaning his car told me it was "cement dust." So far, no one I've talked to knows what exploded. I'm not sure I like living in a place where there are mysterious explosions and dust falls that aren't explained or even acknowledged.

Post postscript: If it actually is cement dust, I'm wondering if maybe the "explosion" was actually a building demolition. That wouldn't be newsworthy, I guess, though the dust cloud certainly made a mess around here.

Post post postscript, October 4th: Something about this finally showed up in the local paper -- but only as a passing mention in an editorial and in a letter to the editor. Turns out it was "nontoxic" coal ash from an industrial chimney that was being "blasted out" for cleaning. How is that legal? And wouldn't any miner tell you that there's nothing nontoxic about coal ash?