A special news report. The words "plane crash." Smoke billowing out of a high rise.

For about 10 seconds this afternoon, my stomach was in knots. Ten seconds. That's it. I stumbled onto today's news of the NYC plane crash a few minutes into things. All I saw was the smoke and "plane crash." It quickly became clear, though, from both the images AND the newscaster that this WAS "only" a small plane or copter, and it was "only" a random apartment high-rise. It was NOT a landmark building with a jet plane through it. Scary, unsettling, newsworthy for sure...but isn't it funny how relative things have become since Sept. 11th? The most stunning thing turned out to be that Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was on the plane and killed. He was a licensed pilot, though it's not clear whether he or a 2nd person, also killed, was at the controls. As always, anyone killed would've been a tragedy, but a prominent person dying multiplies the shock factor. That Lidle died DAYS after the Yankees' surprising post-season loss, during a week of rampant "who will be fired?!" speculation, makes it even more odd and surreal. Oh, yes, and one can't forget that today is...the 11th. A very strange, sad, scary news event...which, YET again, focuses me on the "perspective" part of this blog title.