meteor grace for Russia (and us)

You and I and everyone have probably heard something about the meteor that exploded over Russia last Friday. Flash of light, little crashes, uneven shockwave, shattered glass, 1000+ injured, 0 dead.

Yesterday morning I heard another snippet about it on NPR. Morning Edition host Renee Montagne was talking with NYT reporter Andrew Kramer, who was in Chelyabinsk, Russia-- the town most affected by the meteor.

Towards the end of the segment, she asks: "What's the mood of the people there? Are they afraid that something else is going to come crashing down from the sky?"

Andrew responds:

"Well, people were very, very concerned on Friday. I was talking to many people who said that their pulse rate went up, that they were nervous. They had no idea what this was. But by Saturday, a lot of people were giddy. They were amazed that this danger had passed them by. Russians really have a deep expectation of tragedy because of their history. People here often think that things will end badly. This is an exceptional instance in Russia where a huge fireball fell out of space and missed everybody in the city. It could have easily obliterated the entire town, or struck a nuclear facility...it was a near miss for this area."

Ah. Did you get that?

"Russians really have a deep expectation of tragedy, because of their history...People here often think that things will end badly."

And yet? The fireball fell out of space and MISSED THEM.

"People were giddy. They were amazed that this danger had passed them by."

What a potent picture of grace.

Our history is tragedy. We expect the fireball to strike.

It passes us by. 

Last week's meteor should have hit full-force, but science-y shockwave stuff happened and most of it shattered in the air.

And the bulk of the meteor? They can't find it. Nearby, there's a frozen lake with an inexplicable hole in the middle. Some scientists were guessing part of the meteor crashed through it -- but then divers found nothing.

None of this is to diminish the very real aftermath of the meteor's explosion: the community sustained damages of more than $30 million, and 1000+ people were injured.

But no deaths. But no fireball.

It passes us by.




(You can read the transcript of the Morning Edition segment with Andrew Kramer here.)