a man died here

He jumped from the 33rd floor of his building this morning. Witnesses say his body exploded when he hit the ground. See that fresh dirt? That was put there to cover up his remnants. See the blood stain? Just some of the larger amount that was originally there.

I only heard about this four hours after it happened. The area pictured above was only scanned by the curious onlookers who knew about the event. For most, it was as if nothing happened. Some people watched me curiously to wonder why I was photographing the sidewalk?

But isn't this the story of our lives? We are but wisps in the wind, the momentary breath of cold air that rushes and quickly disappears as we breathe on a cold wintry day. What motivated him to die this way? If you were going to kill yourself, how would you do it? Pills, slashing your wrists, overdosing, jump in front of a subway car . . . ?

As for the more tawdry aspects of this event, did he lose consciousness before he hit the ground? Did he have second thoughts while falling? Did his whole life stream in an instant before his mind?

Our lives are short to begin with. Take care - take good care of yours.