Three dreams

Well, it was really just one dream, but it involved three disaster scenarios. And, despite my best efforts at committing them to memory, one of them has evaporated away. Maybe I will remember it when I turn in for the day in a little bit. I had these dreams yesterday, during my daytime sleep before work.

One of the disasters was bizarre, but understandable to local television viewers. Joe Snedeker, meteorologist for local ABC affiliate WNEP, announced that he had acquired a small nuclear missile and would be launching it during an upcoming weather segment. And he did. (This would not be entirely uncharacteristic, or even unexpected, behavior from Joe Snedeker.)

The other disaster that I can remember involved the space shuttle Discovery. In the dream, it suffered a failure to launch and collapsed on the launch pad. The external fuel tank broke apart in a manner similar to those films of rockets collapsing during early launch tests. (I remember thinking that this seemed really odd, though I don't know how the external fuel tank might actually look in such a situation.) The orbiter collapsed into the exploding cloud of flames, also snapping apart in several places. As I watched I wondered if anyone in the crew cabin could have survived, and I was assured that they could not.

I remember the sense of tragedy I felt, not just for the deaths of the crew - seven astronauts, in this dream - but for the premature termination of the Shuttle program. In reality there are only a few shuttle launches left, including one of Discovery.

I woke up at this point, and it was time to get ready for work.