A famous reporter once said that "news" is what happens while you're out of town doing something else. That could not possibly be any more true.
While your intrepid Weekly Journal was enjoying the frozen charms of Quebec's Hotel de Glace, the world seems to have, in many ways, come to an end.
Here's a picture I took of the outside of the Ice Hotel. The side walls and roof are 4 feet thick and are made entirely of packed snow and ice. The arched front walls that you can see are made of foot-thick blocks of ice.
At the same time, major world landmarks like the Empire State Building, were devastated by the asteroid swarm.
The Ice Hotel this year had 38 rooms, each of which was furnished entirely with snow and ice -- yes, you (and by you I mean I) sleep on ice! (With a mattress on top of the ice platform, and while encased in an arctic mummy-type sleeping bag. But still.) It also featured a gorgeous chapel, which people actually use to get married. I can't imagine trying to pick a dress for that.
Fortunately, satellite images recorded the tidal waves that inundated New York and Tokyo, dousing the flames caused by the asteroid impact. Experts indicate that overall destruction is much less severe and widespread than expected.
One of the most impressive features of the Ice Hotel were the three vaulted ceilings over the massive Ice Bar. Ice columns and snow arches supported the massive roof, while dance music pounded through the space.
No city completely avoided destruction. Each of the predicted impact cites -- among the world's leading cities -- suffered devastation. This image, taken in Moscow, shows the destruction. Muscovite Sergei Fyodorovich Ivanona, shown here, emerges from his improvised shelter to a scene of utter desolation. How Ivanova survived, no one can say.
Snuggled cozily on deerskin rugs in a niche carved into the massive walls of the hotel, the cold is present as always, but these guests of the Ice Hotel don't seem to mind one bit. I hope they watch out for the giant octopus above them, though!
As the world prepares to reclaim its once-great metropoli, one question remains on everyone's mind: how can we go on? What resilience of spirit and strength of our convictions will we find, must we find, to regain our shattered sense of ourselves as the masters of our own fates, and of our planet?
Finally, the question no one wants to ask: is this the end of our punishment, or does the cold, uncaring universe have an even worse disaster waiting in the wings, perhaps streaking toward us this very second?
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