The New Hobbit Hole

[2Jedismom]

You're a nut! :-)

I have watched very little TV today, but I just saw President Bush with the families at Ground Zero. He is just such a fine person. Seems very sincere. Unlike the C-word.

I remember meeting him with I lived in Texas (when he was first running for governor) and getting the same feeling.

[HairOfTheDog]

I have been watching the TV coverage all day... Bush is walking through the gathering at the WTC site now... Yes, he is a real nice person. He can walk through a crowd and I don't have this fear that he is gonna goose someone.

And yes bear!... I do have a shoulder holster, but I would have to wear the black shoes. I don't think it goes with the red outfit.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

I would have to wear the black shoes

That works too!

I haven't watched or listened to any coverage since I got to work. Seeing it on TV this morning before leaving for work, and listening to the radio while driving in, brought it all too close to the surface. Work gave me an excuse to get away from it for a while.

[htur_75]

I have to say that I am glad he left. We don't need no steeken whiners here. He or she needs to go take a bath and relax.

[JenB]

Hullo, friends. I had a brief chance to stop by and wanted to know I'm thinking of all of you fondly, especially today. I feel so odd, both angry and terribly sad, a lot like I was ... well... I wrote this to try to straighten my thoughts out...

It is a gorgeous, cool, blue fall day. Exactly as gorgeous, and slightly cooler, than it was a year ago today.

I don't think I'll ever forget that day. I hope I won't, because forgetting would be wrong. I remember sitting in front of a computer in the lab, paralyzed, not by fear but by shock. I had no personal feeling of danger, and I knew most of the people I cared about were out of harm's way. I sat there, watching the headlines and pictures - I couldn't get to most of the articles because all the news servers were clogged - and wondering what was going to happen next. The hallways were filled with people; even the library had dug out an old antenna and tv set and had the news in black and white. I remember the faces of people standing there, books in their hands and bags forgotten. I remember the anger and fear in their eyes.

Later came the feeling of helplessness, as thousands of people died, some not fifty miles from where I sat, and there was literally nothing I could do to help. It felt wrong to leave the television screen, wrong to try to carry on as if nothing was wrong. Math class was almost a total wash. The professor lectured for over an hour before he gave up; I don't even remember what he said. I remember one of my classmates talking about how frantically she'd tried to get her parents - they lived a mile from the crash site in Shanksville. Another, who's parents lived in New York, told us how they had worried about her - hearing that a plane had gone down "somewhere in southwestern Pennsylvania, somewhere east of Pittsburgh" - a location that fitted us fairly perfectly.

I remember gathering on the lawn, RAs handing out candles that they'd made a special trip for, and me thinking how odd it was that this was the first year of the "no candles in dorm room" policy. The prayers, offered by any and all, for peace, for healing, for the safety of loved ones. I remember praying for justice, and then querying myself to make sure I hadn't meant 'revenge'.

Then, as the days went by, I saw more and more people drift into a combination of sorrow and conciliatory spirits. I didn't understand that; I was still mad. I wanted justice. I wanted those responsible to be found and locked up - or killed. Not for vengeance. That would have been elevating them to a status of human and in my mind, they lost that the moment the first airline was taken over. I did not hate them, but they were, I felt, dangerous, and we had to make sure they could never hurt anyone again.

Even at my school we felt the surge of patriotism. I wore red shirts with my blue jeans for weeks, wore out my flag shirt, cut a paper flag from the newspaper and hung it in my window. It wasn't jingoism. For the first time in my life I had truly considered what it was to be an American and I was proud. The heroism of the firefighters, police, ordinary citizens convinced me that we were not really any different from the men who fought at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. People are still heroes inside, waiting for the need. It takes something terrible to bring it out...

And that was what was really important about September the Eleventh. Everyone who died, everyone who lived, has a story. The people who wouldn't leave without their disabled co-workers. The firefighters who ran into the towers and not out. Todd Beamer and the Flight 93 heroes. There are so many individual stories, everyone can find one that they identify with particularly. Examples of heroism, nobility, and valor; examples of cowardice and even criminal behavior. The people who risk their lives, who spend days without sleeping looking for survivors rub shoulders with the people who steal money and drinks from evacuated bars.

So, a year later, I'm still angry. I still want justice, and I happen to think that the way we've been going about getting it is right. The world is not really any safer than it was on 9/11/01, but it's no more dangerous than it was on 9/10/01. We're just looking at things differently now,

And yeah. I'm still proud to be an American.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Another sad event...

Johnny Unitas dead of a heart attack

[HairOfTheDog]

Hi Jen.... I am glad you are back with us! I have been wondering about you, with computer troubles that were keeping you from us!

Thanks for coming and sharing that! - And get your computer fixed!

[HairOfTheDog]

This is an interesting post...

Rememberance events around the world, tokens of support from places you may not expect. Its nice.

Photos From Around the World Honoring 9/11

[Overtaxed]

Welcome Back!

So...you want to hear my 9/11 story? Okay...

I was at the dentist getting fitted for a crown. They had the radio on in the background. So I drive back to work and everyone is listening to the radio. No one was crying. They were just shocked and getting angry. They sent everyone home.

So at home I'm Freeping and watching Fox when I get an IM from my sister in DC. She lives across the Potomac from the Pentagon. Everyone was okay (well I didn't really think any of them would be at the Pentagon). The base was on lockdown and BIL needed the phone line.

And that was pretty much it.

[htur_75]

Those are powerful pictures. It shows how wide spread the effects were.

All:Just wanted to comment. The documentary was showing when Prez Bush learned about the second plane. He was with a class of elementary students. They said he had already heard about the first plane, but noone knew what the cause was. Then you see a man come over and whisper something in his ear. He was telling Bush about the second plane. I was amazed at his composure. He just started chewing his lip and his eyes said it all. There was such pain in his eyes at the news, and yet he continued with what he was doing so that the children wouldn't know right away. He is such an amazing man.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Heading for home here... maybe after I'm home a while I'll be able to put my memories into a message.

Maybe not, I dunno.

Later all.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think you should do what you would like!

That is what I am doing. I am going out for a steak at the tavern.

My most self-involved friend, who never watches the news, wants to go out for dinner. She wants me to help her decide which promotion to take in her job, and complain about her dad deciding to paint her house, and choosing the colors without asking her. She asked me what I did today, and I said, "well, I watched the news all day and had a lot of tears well up seeing all those images again." She said... "Tears? What happened today? I haven't watched the news..."

Remember the part about the Rangers in LoTR, long guarding the innocent folk of the Shire, who go about their daily lives, completely heedless of the outside world. And the Rangers didn't mind. They were relentlessly guarding the heedless from ever having know all the evils of the world.

My friend is America's Shire.

See you all later!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

I think you should do what you would like!

I usually do. :)

Your friend sounds a bit like a couple who were our best friends, before they moved away. They weren't quite as out of touch with the news, but we were so much more in touch that they seemed woefully uninformed. Now, I envy them.

Enjoy your steak!

[Corin Stormhands]

There was such pain in his eyes at the news, and yet he continued with what he was doing so that the children wouldn't know right away.

I seem to remember the mediots remarking that it looked like he didn't care because he didn't react. I think you're much closer to the truth.

[Corin Stormhands]

You could probably even get some cookies at a local bakery...

My wife worked with a woman in DC who never cooked. Never. But she kept a roll of cookie dough in the freezer. When company was coming over, she'd go to the bakery and pick up a dozen cookies, she'd come home, sprinkle some flour or sugar on a platter and put the cookies out. Then she'd slice off one cookie and bake it so the house smelled like fresh baked cookies...

[Corin Stormhands]

You'd hate to have the firemen have to get their ladder truck to rescue you down from your shoes, wouldn't you?

Wouldn't you?

[Corin Stormhands]

Say goodnite Gracie. See y'all tomorrow.

[Corin Stormhands]

funkle

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Good night Gracie!

[osagebowman]

Mine was probably like hundreds other in the Midwest, listening to the radio on the way to work, Commuter plane hits world trade center on the breaking news, then the news breaks came faster, traffic actually slowed down, others were trying to listen to start to comprehend. The television in the lunch room was on, and it was packed. Some watched, the initial live feeds were horrific but in those first few minutes, most all of knew we were at war. The only thing I could do was head to the desk, log in and start working. That was then, today, I was on the road, newscasts were talking about the year ago attack, at 7:46 they cut to Kate Smith singing God Bless America. A bit difficult to drive with the tears. Got into work, check out a truck and headed out for field work. Beautiful clear 60 degrees, doing field surveys for a new bridge over the Kansas River. Blue skies, the droning of the trucks and cars on the highway, yet strangely at peace, notebook and compass in hand. Working, doing my bit, but never forgetting what happened on 9-11. Thanks for listening.