What a Way to Start the Weekend!

 The day started a little after three as the phone beside my bed rang. I was expecting the alarm to go off so I woke up quickly. Bill, a friend, had just arrived at the top of the hill where we were going to watch the big implosion scheduled for this morning. He was the first person to arrive.

    I got up, ate some breakfast and drank some coffee and then loaded the car. Things had been pre-packed so it was only a matter of a couple trips. A quick stop at an all night gas station for two coffees and a couple breakfast sandwiches and then it was off to Ann Maries.

    Nearing the site, the morning sun, not yet over the horizon, was tinting contrails with a pink color. They looked like fireworks. We had watched the Chinese Space Station Tiangong pass over AMB’s house before we left, it was turning into another great day!

    Arriving a little more than two hours before the scheduled detonation, we worked our way up the steep path of Barking Slopes. Dirt bikes, rain runoff and many feet had turned the path into a deep ditch, running straight up the hill. The light was bright enough for us to pick our footing. It was the steepness, and the weight of the cameras and tripod I was carrying that caused me to stop occasionally to catch my breath.

    Four or five people were already at the peak of the hill. Below us, across the Allegheny River, sat the former Springdale Power Plant. The sun was up, a bright orange ball hovering over the distant hilltops. A couple of boats were already out patrolling the river and police and firemen were positioned around the plant. Occasionally a police car or a fire truck would drive by. From on top of the hill, they looked tiny and the world was mostly silent.

    Slowly, more people arrived. We had staked a claim on the side, away from the power lines coming up from below. Most people chose height over the clear view, our area stayed fairly free of people until just before the detonation time. Someone drove a Jeep up the hill and we joked about how it would make a good commercial. Before the “big bang” four other cars and trucks joined it, along with an ATV, a dirt bike and a golf cart.

    An hour before detonation, it was getting crowded. People just kept coming; soon the hill top was lined with people and cameras. A few people climbed onto the electric tower structures to see over the crowd. One man brought a hammock that he hung on one of the towers. Parents brought their children. More people moved over towards our side; space was becoming a premium! For the most part, everyone was polite and friendly; we were all here to see the same thing. 

    Stepping down the hill a bit, I was able to count over 60 people from where I was standing. I would guess there was well over 100 people with us on the edge of the hill.

    Right around 8, right on time, we heard a long siren blast and then a short time later, a series of siren blasts and then a small muted sound of an explosion. The shorter and newer chimney started to lean towards the right. Shutters were clicking and videos were being recorded. From the hill top it appeared to fall right behind the taller chimney. It looked like slow motion as it collapsed, pieces of the metal cap flying in the air along with it.

    The second stack started to lean, falling away from us. It appeared to be shrinking as it fell and while it seemed to be slowly falling, it probably only took seconds before it hit the ground. A huge cloud of brown dust rose up into the air.

    Everyone on the hilltop was silent for a moment and then the cheering and clapping started. We all watched in awe as the dust cloud started to rise and then slowly move down river.

    I find it fascinating to see where places used to be but to see something disappear while I watch, that is great! “Here today, gone tomorrow!”  Gone but the memories. Everyone on that hillside and in places around the area gathered some fantastic memories this morning!

    People started the hike back down to their cars and the crowd thinned out. While making our way back down the slope we watched the cloud of dust move down the river valley. Later, we drove through the dust as we entered Oakmont.

    There were only a few problems with the implosion, some windows were broken and a couple telephone poles were knocked down. The power was disrupted for awhile.

    I went home and developed my film. I spent about a half hour hoping that I had put the film in the camera the correct way, hoping that I was using the correct times and chemicals in the proper order. This is one of the things which accompany using film as compared to digital cameras and one of the things I enjoy. In the end, the negatives came out fine.

     We had watched a space station cross the sky, saw a beautiful collection of clouds and then shared with a hundred other spectators the rare experience of watching not one, but two smokestacks come crumbling to the ground. WOW, what more can I say? The day was off to a spectacular start!

What a way to start the weekend!