G
Guest
Five years ago today, I awoke, arrived at my living room, and watched replay after replay of persons coming from different points in the United States flying aircraft into the World Trade Canter, the Pentagon, and of wreckage in a field in Pennsylvania.
I was stunned. Time seemed to freeze. We stared at the television screen, four hours behind the East Coast, in relatively-safe Alaska, preparing to hunt moose..
I don't remember what we said, or mumbled in our recently-awakened stupor.
I quickly found myself as angry at the corporations, opportunists, and governments that had contributed to the history of events that resulted in that moment as I was at those who flew the planes.
I thought about what the word 'innocense' means, and wondered if any of us, aside from the youngest of the young, really were.
None of that had much effect on the impact of graphic images of persons, American, Canadian, British, and others, leaping from buildings. There was an intense empathy of at least some sense of what degree of desperation it took to cause otherwise average persons, many with loved ones in their lives, to choose to plunge from that height, rather than face being burned alive.
Those images are tattooed in many minds today.
We wept for the country, the dead, the injured, the heart-broken, the lost and missing, the persons holding signs seeking mates and children, and for what we knew the persons who crave power and control in our world would use that tragedy for. We could see it coming even then.
A lot changed that day. It didn't increase my patriotism; I already loved my country. It didn't cause me to distrust my government any more; I already didn't trust them. It was other things that changed then.
It brought to the forefront something once again that I had known for many years, but was guilty of sometimes ignoring; the knowledge that life is precious and can abruptly end at any time. And that the time that we have with our loved ones is limited. That each time they leave the doorway, and kiss us good-bye, could be the last time.
Loss isn't always preceded by advance notice.
Many of us don't watch that footage anymore, even though it still circulates on the internet. It's a point of despair that doesn't need to be reviewed often.
Yes, other countries suffer incredible attrocities, indignities and injustices each day. We are not better or even that much different beyond the frills, attitudes, and expectations.. We are vulnerable to life's anguish too.
I hope that a moment of silence, a candle, a dedicated toke or toast, or whatever expression of remembrance is in order. Not for George Bush. Or for Osama bin Laden. Or the many power-gropers. But for persons everywhere who find themselves drawn into others' conflicts, and never come home again. And for those who feel their absence.
"Imagine all the people, living for today...." (John Lennon)
moose eater
I was stunned. Time seemed to freeze. We stared at the television screen, four hours behind the East Coast, in relatively-safe Alaska, preparing to hunt moose..
I don't remember what we said, or mumbled in our recently-awakened stupor.
I quickly found myself as angry at the corporations, opportunists, and governments that had contributed to the history of events that resulted in that moment as I was at those who flew the planes.
I thought about what the word 'innocense' means, and wondered if any of us, aside from the youngest of the young, really were.
None of that had much effect on the impact of graphic images of persons, American, Canadian, British, and others, leaping from buildings. There was an intense empathy of at least some sense of what degree of desperation it took to cause otherwise average persons, many with loved ones in their lives, to choose to plunge from that height, rather than face being burned alive.
Those images are tattooed in many minds today.
We wept for the country, the dead, the injured, the heart-broken, the lost and missing, the persons holding signs seeking mates and children, and for what we knew the persons who crave power and control in our world would use that tragedy for. We could see it coming even then.
A lot changed that day. It didn't increase my patriotism; I already loved my country. It didn't cause me to distrust my government any more; I already didn't trust them. It was other things that changed then.
It brought to the forefront something once again that I had known for many years, but was guilty of sometimes ignoring; the knowledge that life is precious and can abruptly end at any time. And that the time that we have with our loved ones is limited. That each time they leave the doorway, and kiss us good-bye, could be the last time.
Loss isn't always preceded by advance notice.
Many of us don't watch that footage anymore, even though it still circulates on the internet. It's a point of despair that doesn't need to be reviewed often.
Yes, other countries suffer incredible attrocities, indignities and injustices each day. We are not better or even that much different beyond the frills, attitudes, and expectations.. We are vulnerable to life's anguish too.
I hope that a moment of silence, a candle, a dedicated toke or toast, or whatever expression of remembrance is in order. Not for George Bush. Or for Osama bin Laden. Or the many power-gropers. But for persons everywhere who find themselves drawn into others' conflicts, and never come home again. And for those who feel their absence.
"Imagine all the people, living for today...." (John Lennon)
moose eater
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