The darkness will come upon it

The fallen Key Bridge has been in the news again here lately, and that has got me thinking back to that subject again. It seems that wherever there is a man made monster, there is a creator and a keeper of such. An announcement was made the other day, as to the state’s choice of the former. A corporation has finally been hired to construct and complete a new crossing over the Patapsco River. I had never heard of this entity, which is unsurprising, as contractors that do a lot of government and public works projects generally toil in obscurity. At least with regards to the knowledge of the average person who is not involved in said industry. Rather like the way Dr. Frankenstein worked in his castle, far from the public eye. The lair of this builder is probably not on top of a steep hill, but is likely on flat land, as it is located in the state of Nebraska. That reminds me of something weird I saw a couple weeks ago. I was out for a walk near my home and I spotted a car with Nebraska plates. For the life of me I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vehicle with plates from that distant state. I thought it most odd, especially since I live in the outer suburbs of Baltimore, many miles from the harbor where the iron monster once stood. The Nebraska plate was seen near our local hospital, so it was probably someone visiting family here. Could have been a rental car for that matter, as those get swapped around from place to place. But in retrospect it seems like it was an omen of things to come…

I have not sought out the location of said builder on a satellite map at this point, but despite my thoughts to the contrary I would not expect to see a spooky looking building with lightning flickering around it. Nor would I likely see dark clouds, a full moon, fog or bats flying around. In fact, I’m sure I’d be most disappointed, as its headquarters is likely just a plain old office building in some industrial park. A location that is very unassuming and mundane. However, sometimes that which appears ordinary ends up being anything but.

These notions make me think of various ancient public works projects, especially those that were designed with the intentional spilling of blood in mind. The Romans and their arenas are one well known example. The others are temples and other religious buildings made for sacrifice, often that of animals but sometimes of humans. Of course, this modern construction has a totally different purpose that, on the surface, should have nothing to do with intentional bloodshed. But once it is built, that darkness will likely come upon it. That is the elephant in the room. ‘This begs the question of whether or not the monster’s builder might have any awareness of this elephant. Dr. Frankenstein had no idea that his monster would go about attacking and killing people. Do the creators of metal monsters give any thought to the possibility of their works becoming locations where people leap to their deaths? Or is that up to the customer to recognize, define and then try to prevent the structure they commissioned from being used by people to end their lives? I have no doubt that the state does recognize this elephant, especially since the newly built Governor Nice Bridge has those signs with an emergency crisis number on them. The old Key Bridge had them as well, along with emergency phones. But with regards to this project, everything thus far is pointing to expediency in order to get the new bridge completed as quickly as possible. Deterring jumpers will probably be way down on the priority list. The old Key Bridge was definitely creepy, at least in my mind, and I suppose I am expecting that the new one will be likewise. And any entity tasked with doing the rebuilding job is similarly tainted by darkness. It is hard to not think that way….