SEPT 10, 2001

Such a great day that was. Particularly in retrospect. But I actually remember it. How it was warm and humid with a late afternoon monsoon that required me pulling off the highway to wait it out. And then it cleared up, the humidity lowered, and it was just a wonderfully clear, refreshing evening. And I came home to watch EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and was laughing my ass off. And it was gonna be fantastic out the next day...sunny, low 80s...so I was gonna head to the beach...yet again. I couldn't wait to get to the beach. Not a care in the world. The Great Summer of '01 was just continuing to roll along into September. I got up about 8:15am, I guess, that Tuesday. Put the tea on. Turned the computer on. God, it was nice out!

My back's to the window when i'm on the computer in the living room. If it faced the window, perhaps I'd have seen the plane barrelling down the Hudson River, as I have quite an impressive view of lower Manhattan, though not of the World Trade Center. I'd always cursed the monstrosity of an apartment building that blocked my view of it. My friend Donna's daily hilarious and scathing emails had already begun to roll in. At the very end of one around 9am, she asked if there was "some kind of explosion." And so began my awareness of the horror unfolding just across the river from me. And now it's 5 years later, which I just can't comprehend. In the blink of an eye. And it's 1:30am and i'm sitting at the same computer in the same room (pathetic, but that's another blog). And it's partly cloudy and 62 degrees outside. And I can turn my head and look out at Manhattan. The cliche is that change is constant. But I still can't wrap my head around all that changed that day...and in the 5 years since. It's like BC/AC to me. And i'm always wondering when IT will happen again. And will I be a victim? I wasn't this way on September 10, 2001. But I adapt well.