It was difficult to get our work done, but we can't go a day without watering the plants. Incredibly we had customers that day, and I wanted to ask them how they could be shopping for flowers given what was happening. In fact, I selfishly thought that we would be lucky to do any business that fall, but as it turned out, it was one of our best ever. The nesting instinct was good to us. Our garden center must sit under military air space, and normally the sky is busy with all manner of aircraft travelling to and from the local bases. So it was very eerie to have a day of totally quiet skies, and since 9/11 I always get a little concerned when there is a change in the traffic volume overhead.
That day I stayed in near constant contact with my wife to discuss what was happening, how her students were reacting, to reconfirm when we would both be home and who was going to pick up our son from daycare. Time, agendas and details suddenly became more important and stayed that way. There have been few days since when I was as glad to get home, with my family safe and together in the house. We spent the evening touching base with friends and relatives and with our eyes focused on the television.
Where were you on 9/11? If you wish, leave a comment here or if you blog, post your remembrances there.
The day is etched on or memories forever. I find I can remember almost every detail of what happened in our lives that day from the moment I woke up and heard the television on in the next room and a strange somber dialogue among the friends with whom we were staying. I said to my husband 'sounds like something terrible has happened' I then I went into the living room and found out. It is a day we will never forget but we must continue to remember.
ReplyDeleteThanks for remembering this tragic day. I was at home in Maine, waiting to show my old house to a buyer. She was listening to the news in her car. We turned on the TV when they thought it was a car bomb and watched in horror. I called family in Manhattan and was relieved to find them ok. Then I took my little kids to playgroup, not believing that it was such a nice day.
ReplyDeleteLovely post. I was at home with my little ones sitting with me on the sofa, enjoying the morning view from my window. That all changed within minutes. What a somber day it became.
ReplyDeleteDear Les, Thank you for this lovely tribute. It is still painful for me (and everyone) to remember that day. As a school principal, it was my job to inform the teachers of the tragedy unfolding, calm parents who came flocking to the school to pick up their children, and comfort those who had loved ones working in the city. Some of our students lost a parent, and one of my teacher's brother went missing for a long time, before being found safe. Yes, we have to continue to remember, however painful. P. x
ReplyDeleteI was running a MG meeting, didn't believe it was a big plane that hit the buildings.
ReplyDeleteAfter college I went to Europe with a friend and when we got back we went to lunch at the Top of World restaurant. hard to believe.
Nice collage Les! I remember exactly where I was, in the central hall of the university watching the attacks live on the Tv system, speechless nailed to the ground...impressive and shocking and it still is.
ReplyDeleteI was in the classroom and it was interesting to watch the different reactions from people. Some cried like most. Some teenagers laughed because they've never dealt with something like this before. Some were quiet and in shock. Some were paranoid that everything was coming to an end. Some were very angry. Me...I was in shock and saddened by the event. PS. Nice artsy photo. That is really beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI can remember that day as it was yesterday, I was at that time a school boy and was at my aunt home in Cormons, next to slovenia, it was afternoon in Italy.First as we saw it on tv I supposed it is a movie, but after as every channel focused on it, I said "oh mio dio", was not able to believe that it is true,we spent all day in front of the tv ...Sure will never be able to forget such a tragic day for all western world, pace! James
ReplyDeleteI passed through the Pentagon Metro station about 10 minutes before the plane hit. Several of the paintings the museum I worked for had arranged to borrow for a new exhibition left their respective home museums that morning. The planes containing Monets, Cezannes and a host of other masterpieces were not allowed to land at any American airports and were diverted to Canada, from where the insurance companies insisted they be returned to their homes. Our exhibition opened without several key pieces, including the painting on the cover of the catalogue. Passing through the Pentagon Metro station on the way home, there was the distinct smell of smoke, even underground. Once I got home, Mark and I got on the bikes. They closed the roads around the Pentagon almost immediately, but not the bike trails. Scores, if not hundreds, of us crowded to get as close as possible to see the burning plane and building. The plume of smoke is an image I will never forget.
ReplyDeleteThank you Les for giving us an outlet to talk about what is on all of our minds. Since I am on the west coast it was still early here. I was getting ready for work, but I had turned the television on. I think I was still experiencing a bit of denial as I walked to work that morning. Although I do remember feeling everything was rather surreal. Once at work we were to have a staff meeting that morning. We all gathered in various states of understanding what was happening. Where I worked at that time had several employees from countries that have experienced war and terrorism first hand for years. Seeing their reaction made it all the more real for me. We fairly quickly made the decision to close that day and we all went home to our families, or televisions. I too remember how eerily quiet the skies were...
ReplyDeleteLes I remember that day clearly. You dispatched me to Ghent Square to plant a crape mrytle for a customer.
ReplyDeleteI owned a motel on the coast in Washington state at the time. I was at the computer in the motel office/home when my housekeeper arrived for work and I don't remember his exact words but he told me something was going on--some planes hijacked...an attack...I quickly turned on the TV and we saw the crashes. Housekeeping was forgotten for the day. My husband was in California where his mother was in the hospital, dying from cancer. He had a plane reservation to return home that afternoon. I called him, he didn't know what was happening, and told him to go quickly and rent a car because airlines, train, bus, etc. were being closed down. He got the last car Hertz rented before they shut down. That was the last time he saw his mother conscious...he went back south several weeks later and she died soon after.
ReplyDeleteI still find it eerie when I see the Manhattan skyline without the towers, and feel rather odd about being able to date a film shot there by before or after 9/11. I was at home, in the middle of a big relapse, experimenting with a new kind of bread. I turned the TV on to check that something had recorded OK and caught shots of the first plane hitting, purely by accident. P and I remained glued to the TV for the rest of the day, gaping, crying, debating the consequences. I've always felt bad for the people who so bravely took control of Flight 93, as most of the coverage is always understandably about the Twin Towers. Their heroism, and the sight of people jumping from the towers, are indelibly etched on my brain and in my heart. Thank you for giving me a place to write about it, and to share remembrance with others. I wish the legacy of that terrible day hadn't been so many, many more deaths across the world.
ReplyDeleteI've posted on this topic too, Les: http://www.penick.net/digging/?p=13514
ReplyDeleteLes — As for 9/11, I was in the newsroom that day so my experience was a bit different in the sense that it was clear that it was about to be the biggest story any of us would ever experience. I was an editorial writer and I had been working with the former head of the Wisconsin prison system on a big piece for the oped page about the need for prison reform. I knew that story would never be read now. What I didn't know was that the man who wrote it was driving to NYC by the time the paper came out as his brother worked in the twin towers. As for me on a more personal note, Sept. 11 had always been the blah day between our wedding anniversary and Mark's birthday. Alas, now we try not to let it overshadow those personal highnotes. As for planting, I put in lots of daffodils that fall for the first time and knew that would be my annual reminder. ( And those are lovely collages of the city that you made).
ReplyDeleteI was serving on a USDA advisory committee with a dozen other people from around the country that met a couple times a year, and we had gathered at a hotel between Washington and Baltimore that morning to kick off a two-day meeting. One of the members couldn't make it until our mid-morning bathroom break and came back into the room and told us the towers had been hit and we were under attack.
ReplyDeleteDuring the break, we all stood around the lobby TV and watched with horror. When we regathered, we decided to plow ahead with our agenda. (We always had more to do than we had time.) But it soon became clear that none of us was really in the room. Our thoughts were elsewhere.
We also realized that Washington was under attack, too. And even though we were miles away from prime targets, loved ones and co-workers back home all thought we were 'in Washington' for this meeting. We ate lunch and broke up for the afternoon to contact folks to let them know we were OK. Some hung in their rooms to watch TV in private. But most of us gathered in the bar to watch.
Our group had reservations at a Middle Eastern restaurant that evening. It was kind of surreal. The place was more or less empty except for our big party. The staff was very upset and nervous. In my mind at least, I read it as them thinking 'boy are we in for a world of hurt for something we find as horrible and tragic as you do, but because of the color of our skin and our ethnic heritage people are going to hold it against us.' I'd like to think that our dining there that evening was a small reassurance to them that not everyone in this world was going to blame them for the acts of others. The food was delicious.
I figured that flights would be up and running again sooner rather than later. But my wife insisted on driving 6 hours to pick me up the next day. (She's so much smarter than I am.) Some on our committee who didn't have that option were stuck at the hotel for days before they could get flights out or rent cars to drive home.
I was sad and angry that day. I've been sad and angry for the last 10 years. The first decade of the 21st century didn't have to suck so bad. But that's another story for another day.
Forgot to say that I posted about a special garden here that has a tie to 9/11. Here is the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://eachlittleworld.typepad.com/each_little_world/2011/09/a-serene-retreat-for-sept-11.html
I remember that day very well just like many others. I posted about it too http://www.irishladysgarden.com/2011/09/911-ten-years-laster.html. Lovely pictures, thanks for posting them
ReplyDeleteLike Pearl Harbor for our parents and grandparents, this event will be burned into our memories. I spent the day locating family... a husband deep sea fishing in the North Atlantic (a passing ship alerted them), frantically searching for a daughter who was an American Airlines flight attendant who worked that day (we found her grounded in Paris after leaving DC that morning), sons and daughters in college or married. In the face of tragedy and the unknown, we found solace in each other.
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ReplyDeleteI was working at the reference desk and before I saw the news online, my computer got bogged down. My partner then called and told me what had happened. I assumed it was an accident until he called back and said another plane had struck the other tower. No one could get anything on their computers in the library but the people up in the tech services department had the tv on and we all stood around watching the news. I remember everyone was very quiet.
ReplyDeleteI was actually in the city a few days before. The weather was dry and crisp, and I remember commenting how absolutely clear everything looked. Days later, hell was unleashed. The post on my blog is actually about where I was 10 years ago. I wish you all peace.
ReplyDeleteLes, I had no idea it was happening. No one called, no radio or TV was playing. I was working feverishly on an architectural presentation to present to a client at 2 PM. Right before I was ready to leave at 1 PM, something told me to check the TV news. I turned it on to the horror of the day. I immediately called the client to postpone, and guess what, they would not. I went late at 3 PM, won the job anyway, and was sick about the whole thing ever since. The event affected me profoundly. Living on the border most all the roads to the clients were closed. I had to drive 15 miles out of the way to get there. My husband was working out of town at 9 Mile nuclear plant, I was a wreak. I have not been without the TV playing while working ever again.
ReplyDeleteI was on my way to work listening to NPR and when I got to my normally frantic office, everyone was around the few televisions there.
ReplyDeleteMy father was living in an apartment next to the Empire State building so we were very relieved he was OK.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to write your memories here. There are some seriously common themes, and isn't it amazing how memory works. I can give you details of that day, but can tell you absolutely nothing about the day before. I appreciate your time.
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