Two Things Thursday

Numero Uno

CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE! CHILE!
What an amazing drama that unfolded out in the badlands of the Chilean mine-scape.  As with freeway chases and little dogs stuck out on a frozen lake, the world sat down with their take-out dinners and gaped and guessed and guffawed for the entire 69 days leading up to the emotional final 24 hours.  Truly, it's amazing that these 33 guys were able to be pulled from depths at all, much less after 2+ months of captivity.  It will be interesting to see how Chile changes on the world stage... and how the industry changes as a whole.
There were a few personalities that stuck out to me... Chilean President Pinera, who swore he'd hug every neck that came up the shaft and then pulled an all-nighter doing so. Luis Urzua, the shift foreman and last man out, who kept order and morale up for the first 17 days and then organized the rescue from below. Mario, second miner out and absolute rock star in my opinion.  He brought up rocks to hand out as gifts and stage dived into the fence line full of rescuers... and then gave a point blank assessment of the situation:

"I was with God, and I was with the devil. They fought, and God won."

And a Second Thing
Cooper and I went to Rothwell Park for some Big Guy/Li'l Guy time a few days ago.  He got a chance to play in the leaves and swing and talk to geese.  I know he's not gonna remember one second of that day, but it's got to be adding some levels to his foundational development.  I never understood why parents would take their kids on a trip to Everest or Branson when they weren't able to comprehend where they were or enjoy the surroundings.  Makes perfect sense to me now... bag the kid up, we're going on an expedition!