Look At Notre Dame With Our Favorite Nephew Jason

Yesterday afternoon when I first heard Notre Dame was in flames the thought crossed my mind that the last time I recollect Notre Dame coming to mind was a couple years ago when Spencer Jack's dad, my Favorite Nephew Jason, texted me a photo of himself sitting on a bench in front of a familiar looking structure.

Looking at that photo Notre Dame crossed my mind, so I Googled for images and soon found an image which matched that photo from Jason.

I texted back that "I am guessing this is not a look at the latest remodel of the Burlington Lutheran Church. It looks like Notre Dame, but I had not been informed you left the United States, let alone being in France".

Jason texted back that he and his mother, she being one of my Favorite Ex-Sister-in-Laws, were in the midst of a short visit to Paris.

So, yesterday afternoon, about two minutes after first learning Notre Dame was in flames, Jason texted me again, and once again all that text message contained was an attachment of that same photo of Jason and Notre Dame he had sent me a couple years ago.

I sat here and thought what an odd coincidence that Jason would send me that photo seconds after thinking of it again.

I then text messaged Jason back. What follows are those messages...

Me: When I saw this happening I thought of you sending me that pic years ago of you and Notre Dame and  me guessing what I was looking at. Sad. It survived the Nazis, but not a renovation.
Jason: It is truly the center of the city. Pictures don't do justice to the gigantic size of the cathedral. Imagine Seattle without the Space Needle, or San Francisco without the Golden Gate Bridge.

Me: Or NYC without the Twin Towers.

Jason: Or Fort Worth without Panther Island.

I must momentarily digress from the text messages to make mention of being amused at Jason's reference to Fort Worth's embarrassment.

Jason making a Panther Island joke is an indicator that Fort Worth being host to America's Biggest Boondoggle is giving the town status it has never had, in the national recognition level type of status, as in actually being known for something. When that upcoming 60 Minutes expose of Fort Worth corruption is broadcast it will really amp up Fort Worth's national notoriety.

Back to the text messages...

Me: Just saw pics your favorite mama put pics of your visit to Notre Dame on Facebook. Why is there so much flammable material ready to burn? I thought such structures were made of masonry and glass.

Jason: I wondered the exact same thing.

Thus ended yesterday's text messages, with Jason and me wondering the exact same thing.

By this morning, with the fire extinguished, we had an answer. The masonry superstructure of Notre Dame was not destroyed by the fire. The fuel for the fire was provided by the massive wooden sub-structure which supported the cathedral's roof.

This morning when I woke up my computer and checked email I found the following photo compilation from Jason...

With the text in the email saying "Yesterday, and another day before Yesterday..."