It’s Friday, folks. You know what that means around here: Crank the George Jones because it’s time to get the weekend started. What’s better company to your breakfast and coffee than The Possum and The County Line?
Today is National Titanic Remembrance Day, and the 110th anniversary of the famed vessel’s demise. The ship crashed into an iceberg 20 minutes before midnight on April 14, 1912, and sank three hours later, ending more than 1,500 lives in the cold, unforgiving waters of the Atlantic. Only 706 people aboard the ship survived.
To this author, the legacy of the Titanic is the reminder of humans’ natural defect of arrogance. Hubris has been responsible for countless tragedies throughout history, and the fact that they didn’t bother to include enough lifeboats for all passengers solidifies the Titanic into this category as well. The notion of an unsinkable ship — an engineering marvel, a grand construction the likes of which had never been seen before—could be likened to mocking God. Through this lens, the sinking of the unsinkable ship was almost inevitable.
While the Titanic is a reminder of man’s flaws, it’s also a testament to bravery, sacrifice, and perseverance. Countless, nameless heroes sacrificed their lives to help save others that horrific night, and — looking death in the eyes, stranded in the frigid waters, hundreds clung to hope as they clung to whatever floating debris they could get their hands on. The last of the ship’s survivors lived into the Obama administration.
Admittedly, like most who were born in the 80s and raised in the 90s, this writer’s first real knowledge of the Titanic, aside from the main bullet points, was from the 1997 blockbuster starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. While not a fan of the too-long movie, it instilled an interest in me to research the real event. On this melancholy anniversary, let’s not forget that this was a real catastrophe that took real lives, not just a paragraph from a history book or a few hours in a cinema.
Smooth transitions are overrated, so let’s go ahead and check in with the intern for today’s weather forecast:
Right at 6 a.m., it’s 41 degrees outside The County Line’s headquarters in Russell Springs. Correspondence from the Adair County office in north Columbia reports a thermometer reading of 40. We’re looking at a partly cloudy day that sees the temperature rise rapidly, topping out with an expected high in the low 70s by early- to mid-afternoon. There’s a chance of showers late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
There are no birthdays or anniversaries to report today, but readers can help us fill that calendar and win a year of free car washes — courtesy of our friends at Splash Carwash — while they do it. Just check The County Line’s Facebook page to find out how!
We’ve got plenty of content headed your way today, including local sports, municipal meeting reports, and Jordan Willis returns with another text episode of THE ART OF BINGE WATCHING. We’ll see ya later!
