Counting the Omer Day 27 - 3 weeks, 6 days

Today is Yesod she b'Netzach - a day of foundation in a week of endurance.

Like most San Francisco Bay Area bloggers, it's hard not to write about the accident that is reminiscent of the freeway collapse caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. For those who might not have heard the news, a gas tanker truck overturned on the southbound Interstate 880 freeway connector, then burst into flames. The heat was so intense that the steel holding up the connector above it which links Interstate 580 with state highway 24, melted and collapsed unto the freeway below. The driver was able to get away before the tanker exploded and because of the early time - 3:45a.m. - no life was lost.

You can see a collection of photos showing the destruction here at the SFGate website. Yesterday morning's accident occurred very near the place where the Cypress freeway collapsed in the 1989 earthquake. I'm almost sure that these new connectors were constructed to take the place of the Cypress. And like the Cypress, it's hard not to image driving those roads with the possibility of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. As I mentioned earlier, this time we were lucky.

You never know what will happen, and you can't live your life worrying what will be. Even on this day of foundation and endurance, the foundation crumbled, destroying a structure that was built to endure. But although it will take months, a new foundation will be created, a new structure will be built, and life will go on. Maybe the lesson for this day is that we need to monitor our foundations, not just take their existence for granted. We need to shore up and fix what becomes broken, create our new foundations. That is the root of true endurance.