R is for Reflections on Sept. 11
September is one of the most beautiful months up here in the Adirondacks. Last September 11 was no exception. That day dawned cool and clear with the promise of warm sunshine to come. We had plans to do some water skiing with my sister and brother-in-law on Lake George, so the gorgeous morning got us started early and we were on the road by 8:45 a.m. - with hopes of getting in some early-day skiing before the lake had any boat traffic disrupting our mirror smooth water. We listened to a tape on the 20 minute ride over to the marina, so we missed all of the news!
By the time we got over to the lake, two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center towers and another had hit the Pentagon. Our friend Marion, the marina owner, greeted us with the unthinkable news. We watched the small TV in her kitchen in utter disbelief, trying desperately to wrap our minds around the events we could see, but couldn't begin to believe.
We were soon joined by John and Lisa, who were meeting us for water skiing. They had heard the news on the car radio and Lisa was dissolved in tears. The TV coverage was hard to watch, but we so very much wanted news - news that the whole thing was a big mistake, news that it was part of a clip from an upcoming action movie, news that it just couldn't be true. That wasn't the news we got. Instead, we saw the first tower fall, then the second, and heard the many anguished reports of chaos.
Thoughts began to creep into our consciousness. Was this the beginning of something world-wide? What about our friends who live in California? Would 9 a.m. their time bring further attacks? What about Gary's brother, traveling on business to London that day. What was happening there? We began to get a feeling for what our parents and grandparents must have felt on December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. And the feeling wasn't good.
In those early hours of the disaster, all thoughts were plausible. And yet, all things seemed just so normal. Up here, the sky was still blue, not smoke clogged like in the city. The water of the lake sparkled, and so, in one life-affirming act, we decided to take a few spins around it in an attempt to make ourselves feel that life would indeed go on.
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