With the tower wall down, workers should be able to work more freely in the World Trade Center area, Giuliani said. So far, 115,755 tons of debris have been removed from the site, he said.
The concept of 115,755 tons of debris is beyond belief. Now think about the fact that all of that has been taken to Staten Island and looked at by investigators.
Mike and I had just gotten into the office when we heard about the first plane. In my last "innocent" moment, I believed that the plane crash was an accident. A few moments later, news of the second crash travelled through the office, and it was at that point we all knew it was no accident.
Many of us gathered around a television set in a small conference room on the 3rd floor. When we all saw the first footage of the Pentagon in flames, a dark, unspeakable outrage filled everyone in the room. It was so thick that I almost passed out. (I’ve never fainted – or even felt like fainting – in my entire life.)
But I probably don’t need to tell you the rest. You experienced it yourself…
To me, Karen is expressing the transition that so many of us went through in those minutes after the first crash. Disbelief yes, but more like a grasping for what we could believe. And then that belief was gone. It wasn’t an accident. No twist of terrible fate, no failure of metal or technology.
As the days pass, one thing that comes back to me over and over again is that humans did these things. To each other.
I am a human. Would I be capable of this? What makes me different from this? I heard a woman on NPR say that as she passed a mosque in her neighborhood, she turned her head away because she couldn’t look on the Muslims "with a gentle eye." I wondered how you could just clump anyone of a certain heritage together this way? Were ALL Germans evil? More immediate perhaps – if we should look at ourselves and see a white person, should we associate ourselves with McVeigh?
Oh wait – a bit of silliness. Wait a minute – that would mean I do silly things in my sewing room. Oh….. I guess that’s true sometimes.
Worked on the 911 quilt last night, but today I worked on the quilting for that first october quilt while watching, listening to and crying with the prayer service in NYC. Except for Bette Midler, it was a stirring service. (I like Bette – but no one seemed to have told her that this was a memorial service, not a pep rally) CNN liked it, go figure.
They could have concluded with the words given by Imam Izak-El M. Pasha, a chaplain with the New York Police Department, at the conclusion of a meditation on the burdens felt by many Muslim Americans during the crisis. For a wonderful selection of quotes from the service go here
Talked to Ron today. He is staying in the same hotel, going to the irish “pub” Mulligan’s he found last time. He says that the feeling is very different down there, since they have definitely switched to recovery. A huge crane is supposed to be coming in tonight to remove some of the really large pieces. Things are still being sifted through after they’re removed to Staten Island.
I guess from what he said that they had found a void which led to an area of an underground parking lot. Firemen went in, team with dogs went in and found nothing.
I was thinking that they should use some of the dust to blend in with whatever they build, in whatever monuments or memorials they build. No doubt it would actually contain molecules of the victims.
I needed to go to Walmarts today – a rather surreal experience in normal times. To add to my confusion they are rearranging the store. I came home with the mundane things on my list but I sprang for four “best of” albums: Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, The Beatles (the 1 album) and John Lennon (Lennon Legend). I guess I needed a little break from the familiar celtic music we normally have going.
Instead of getting better, I’m still processing apparently. I got through the first week of Apple Store Training. I worked on quilts. Bottom line is that I’m weepier now than I was last week. As I was telling Ron about this we were both saying the prospect of dropping bombs and engaging in warfare is scary. Is it only so for those who remember Viet Nam? Gulf War? As Ron said – why drop bombs on Afghanistan – to kill some badly needed goats?
My aim is not to exhibit craft, but rather to submerge it, and make it rightfully the handmaiden of beauty, power and emotional content.
