Black Hawk Down

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British man was being treated for shock on Wednesday after he fell from a ladder while pruning trees, accidentally killing his wife with his chainsaw, police said.

The 56-year-old man, who has not been named, was cutting back tree branches at his home in southeast London on Monday when he tumbled backwards from the ladder.

The running chainsaw crashed down onto the neck of his wife, who was working in the garden below him.

"The woman was killed instantly, although she was not decapitated," police said in a statement. "Her husband was taken to hospital. He is still being treated for shock."

A police spokesman said the incident was being treated as a "tragic accident."

This is just one of two news stories I've read in the last two days that have reminded me, with some shock, how temporary and fragile this life is. The other is a local story from here in Helena, Montana. It's often windy here during the evenings and mornings in summertime. On the day that I arrived, July 19th, a young mother of three and her husband went outside to secure their trampoline and prevent it from blowing away. As the woman lifted the side, the trampoline was caught by the wind and catapulted her headfirst into the ground. She's been in a coma ever since.

I don't think I've read two briefer, more jaw-dropping news stories than these. Something so normal as home maintenance can swing from routine to life-changing in one accidental second.

In other news, the Crashing Helicopter outside the Helena airfield has returned today. I was surprised to find that the eyesore was gone when I arrived here last month, leaving only a vacant post. In fact, I'd rather hoped it would STAY gone. But alas, it's back from maintenance, repair, revamping, or whatever they have to do to these stupid icons of a militaristic society that are somehow deemed necessary. It's just so ugly. I guess I can cling to the comic element of its positioning: there's no way any helecopter teetering at that angle isn't in about to crash and burn.