Web Logs
9/12/2001 - More on 9-11
I feel drained this morning. Not tired, just emotionally drained.
Getting home proved not to be a problem. I left the office at five and all the highways were very sparse with traffic. The normal rush hour snarls were nonexistent. Of course I had to wind all around the back way to get to the house, but it was a straight and clear shot.
Once home Will and I grabbed his camera and headed out. I just had to see if for myself, so we took off on the three mile walk toward the Pentagon.
Overhead the sky were clear and quiet, something I've never seen near National Airport. Occasionally a military helicopter would angrily buzz by, but for the most part is was almost peaceful. Every store and mall we passed was closed and vacant.
When we arrived there were machine-gun toting officers, from every imaginable agency, on every available corner. Still, it was all very serene and surreal.
We climbed to the top of a hill and looked down directly into the Pentagon. Right where it had been hit. Even ten hours after the crash, smoke was still pouring from the building in monstrous brown and grey veins that stretched to the horizon. The gash in the building was massive and deep. A blackened, narrow wedge of twisted metal and shattered stone with small patches of fire scattered throughout.
There were dozens of other spectators on the hill. A motley bunch of just about every demographic I can imagine; and a few news crews with their photogenic newscasters and elaborate cameras. The tension was so terribly clear in everyone's face. A creepy undercurrent that never left, even when they smiled.
I'm sorry the pictures are so poor, but my EyeModule2 is the only camera I had.
After a while we left and walked back to Freddie's restaurant to have dinner. The place was swamped for a Tuesday, but we got a table, had some dinner, and then sat around with a few friends mulling things over. Everyone had theories. Everyone had opinions. We quickly grew tired of hearing each other's and just sat around drinking beer. On guy, Zac, works for American Airlines. He knew two of the flight attendants on the second plane to hit the towers...
When we got back home we made a few calls. John Protos in New York is safe, but shaken. He watched the towers collapse from his office window a few blocks away. Jimbo who works at National Airport checked in on his site, but that still leaves Jay, who may still be battling carnage at the Pentagon. I can't reach him yet.
Its hard to summarize how I feel about it all. The deep rage is obvious. I'd be eager to use any force, short of nuclear weapons, against those responsible. But so many other things just keep swirling around my mind. That will have to wait till later. I need some coffee.
