In memory of an embarrassment

You probably know the story. In November of 1970 a dead whale washed up on a beach near Florence, Oregon. After considering various methods of disposing of the whale, state officials decided to blow it up, thinking they could essentially vaporize it with a large enough blast. But that’s not what happened. Here’s a link to the video made by a Portland television station that thought it might make a story sufficiently interesting to justify sending a crew 170 miles to cover it. “What? They’re going to blow up a whale? We gotta be there.”

Although the literal fallout from the explosion was an embarrassment to the state officials, the people of Florence embraced the mishap. Today I made a brief stop at Exploding Whale Memorial Park. It’s not at the location of the blast, but it’s the thought that counts.