September 11th, 2007

[hermionesviolin]

soundingsea wrote, "It's a beautiful September morning. Sky's not the same blue, though; I'm irrationally grateful for the wispy cirrus clouds. I'm thinking of everyone, everything lost because of this day, six years back but not faded."

I've been thinking for days about how soon it would be September 11th, but I didn't even think about the weather until I saw her post.  (Here in Boston it was cool and grey and rainy today -- unlike the beautiful clear blue sky I experienced in Northampton on September 11, 2001.)

[Ann Althouse posted photos of the fog obscuring the absence of the Two Towers this morning.]

I reread sangerin's West Wing fic "Eighteen Minutes" (linked here) and it still makes me cry.

Jonah mentioned Ani's 9/11 poem recently, and I never liked it much (I remember tracking down an mp3 copy for Joe, at his request, when it was still a work-in-progress) but rereading it I am reminded of how much beautiful poetry there is in it.

cuz we were all on time for work that day
we all boarded that plane for to fly
and then while the fires were raging
we all climbed up on the windowsill
and then we all held hands
and jumped into the sky

We watched a West Wing episode today, and a character keeps getting a busy signal and says, "The lines are jammed."  MaryAlice said, "You don't get a busy signal when the lines are jammed," and I realized, "Yes, people would know that," and sure enough then she said, "I know that from six years ago."  I did not try calling anyone six years ago.  I think everyone I knew was in NYC I found out about via the Internet.  It's weird not having an LJ record.  I remember walking down the stairs of Seelye with Becca.  I remember walking back to the house, the clear bright blue sky.  We thought it must be a joke.  I remember walking into the house and seeing people in the living room with the tv on and realizing it was true.  I remember going upstairs to my room and telling my roommate and her then-girlfriend, and how my voice faltered and the emotion of it didn't really hit me until that moment.

***

In mundane news:

I felt better this morning than I did this morning.  I did the cross training program and felt like I was working consistently, though the times aren't impressive.
1mi @ 11:48min
2mi @ 23:47min
2.56mi @ 30min

One of the first e-mails I came in to this morning was a new scheduling thing which I was cc-ed on, and the person from Company A who was delegating this said: "You can communicate with [my full name], Assistant to Prof. [full name], who is very efficient & helpful."

***

I want to do nice things for people.  A number of flisters have been making such offers recently, but I'm crap at creative stuff (I still owe first-kiss ficlets from eons ago, not to mention all my WIPs) so I don't really know what to do about that.  I owe meta and writeups, so I should probably get on that.

Comments

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

All day, I've been thinking, "It's September 11th weather," but actually, today's a bit colder and yeah, there were a few wispy clouds, though it's perfectly clear now. I remember walking back numbly from Hatfield, and thinking, "But it's such a beautiful day."

9/11

[onwingsofeagles.livejournal.com]

Driving to Mom's to get her for a doctor's appt I had the radio on and it said there would be a moment of silence, and that everything changed that day. I so teared up. I always tear up. I remember that day thinking that now Americans knew how the Israelis felt every day. We used to live in a bubble; tne the bubble had burst. But mostly, I just remember watching New York local news for 12 hours with a New York family (in Queens). And wanting to go home and I couldn't. I remember after the second tower fell, my friend said it must be the camera angle, it couldn't be true. And even the news anchors were speechless. I've never heard an anchor speechless before. Finally getting home, I remember hugging my son, and saying I just had to hug him. (He's not real into the huggies). Like the poem -- it was such an ordinary day, and then, not.

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

I live in Minnesota; I think about the weather on a daily basis. (This is actually a problem when I need to set fic in So. California; they don't have nearly as much useful-for-metaphor stormy/snowy weather.)

very efficient & helpful

What a nice thing to see, first thing in the morning. :)