The full story

The version I posted this afternoon was of course an in-a-nutshell synopsis for the paddling.net forum. But I did write up the story of the day on the evening of September 11th, 2001. I wrote it so that I could let everyone who wanted to know what had happened to me read the full day's events - I knew I wouldn't be able to write it again and again and again.

If you are interested in reading that I have posted it here, backdated into the archives. Six years later I don't feel like I need to force it on anyone.

Six years. Feels so long ago. As I mentioned this afternoon, my company had some level of observance of the day for a couple of years afterwards, but that eventually went by the wayside. The odd thing now about September 11th is how basically normal everything feels - naturally there's the annual media blitz, the memorial service at the site (an NPR announcer slipped up this morning and referred to the annual "celebration" - he began to correct himself but then he paused and said that that's almost what the atmosphere felt like), but beyond the official observations, the day just felt normal. Of course it may just be that everyone's mostly said everything they felt needed to be said -- I was riding on the subway this morning looking around at the other commuters, wondering who else was thinking about what they were doing that morning six years ago.

Mostly people were just poking away at their electronic distractors, as usual.

Lady in a dress scratching her head - looking more tired than anything -

Blonde woman in a light blue sweater top standing near me - she looked pensive. She may have been thinking about it.

Guy whistling "The Mexican Hat Dance"...probably not.

But you just can't always tell what people are thinking by looking at them. There was probably more awareness of the day out there than you would know from conversations. I myself have come to a point where it feels odd talking about it - I have so many thoughts on the matter but for whatever reason - it was mostly in the semi-anonymity of the online world that I chose to share those.

I bet I'm not alone in that.