Wednesday, November 17, 2010

More Lacing and a Bridge Story

Thanks for all the nice comments on my laced up card yesterday.  The reaction caused me to dig out this layout from Jan. 2008 where I used the same technique on a 12x12 page.  The layout was about a beach walk which Clara and I took and the unusual discovery she made:  a piece of the Bay Bridge!  This bridge spans the San Francisco Bay and connects the city of San Francisco with the east side of the bay. Although the bridge actually hits land at the Port of Oakland in the city of Emeryville, it is usually referred to as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
While not as famous as the Golden Gate Bridge, it has some interesting history.  It is featured in the 1967 American movie classic, The Graduate, about a young man trying to find himself in a rapidly changing American society.  If you go to the 7:30 minute portion of this utube video, you can see Dustin Hoffman driving on the Bay Bridge, supposedly heading to the East Bay.  The scene contains a notable error because the top deck on which he is driving only goes into San Francisco, not the East Bay.  Traffic heading East travels along the lower level in something that feels a bit more like a cavern.
More recently, the Bay Bridge made news when a portion of it collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earth quake.  Here's a couple photos from that day:
First from the San Francisco Chronicle
And a bigger view from NISEE, U.C. Berkeley (trying to give proper credit, although this photo shows up a lot of places so I'm not sure of its exact origin):
My layout, though, came from an incident in 2007 when a container ship named the Cosco Busan hit the San Francisco Bay Bridge, causing a major oil spill. You can read the Wikipedia account of the accident here. Interestingly, the ship also knocked several large pieces off the bridge.  As reported in our local paper in this article, a very large piece of the bridge washed up on a local beach.  While not as big as the bridge fender featured in that article, leave it to Clara to find her own personal piece of the Bay Bridge! That's what she's proudly holding in the layout.  We considered ourselves lucky that pieces of the bridge and not too much oil made landfall around our parts.
Up tomorrow: some thoughts on hipstamatic photography and my Journal Your Christmas album for this year.

10 comments:

Cynthia Schelzig said...

wow, what an interesting post! Love the larger version of this net like sewing...looks fab...then these stories about this bridge and all.....whew...that was something. I remember when that made big news here in Germany too.

Sian said...

This is a really interesting post - imagine owning a piece of the bridge: how cool is that! And of course your lacing technique is absolutely perfect for your layout.

scrappyjacky said...

I remember seeing this on the news...interesting to have all this additional info....and how great for Clara to have an actual piece of the bridge.
The lacing looks really effective on the LO.

debs14 said...

Again, that lacing is perfect for the bridge pictures - fantastic!
How great to have found a part of the debris, I hope you've kept it safe!

ComfyMom~Stacey said...

That is a great story!

Becky said...

What an interesting story. I remember the event in 1989 - I watched a lot of tv that year as I had very young baby! Really like the lacing and the layout it is on. Looking forward to seeing your JYC album tomorrow. I have got mine all ready, but need to be at home during the day to photograph it - hopefully this weekend!

laurie said...

i love this layout - your lacing compliments the lines and grids of the bridge for an eye-pleasing composition. i have driven over that bridge many times so i appreciate all the facts and history you offered.

Anonymous said...

The lacing is perfect for this layout. Every time we drive across this bridge I think of the 2007 incident. Last time we went across (it's been awhile) they were doing major repairs to some serious problems on the bridge. I love to look at bridges; not a fan of going over them.

Cheryl said...

wow such an interesting post and so apt for your lacing technique.Fab LO by the way. I remember seeing it on the news but really good getting more info on it x

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Great post and layout, Rinda. The lacing technique works great for this page.