Althouse: At the Memorial Observation Deck ....

September 11, 2009

At the Memorial Observation Deck ....

... remember.

24 comments:

Dust Bunny Queen said...: What a beautiful photo.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on that day.; 9/11/09, 12:13 PM
Bissage said...: The Memorial Observation Deck is a place of unearthly beauty; a more fitting heaven than the clouds above.; 9/11/09, 12:20 PM
Triangle Man said...: So nice, it even smells nice.; 9/11/09, 12:41 PM
BJM said...: Thank you Althouse, I needed a calming moment.

wv: oshhush = the gentle rustling of mauve leaves at The Memorial Observation Deck.; 9/11/09, 12:48 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Remember and never forget.; 9/11/09, 1:02 PM
Unknown said...: Very nice, Ann. And quite appropriate.

I hope it's like that for the people who were at the point of impact. They didn't deserve it and we owe their memories a lot better.; 9/11/09, 1:03 PM
traditionalguy said...: That day in 2001 marked the end of a lot of the stability in our lives. The stability had first been shaken by a Computer Science Prophecy of a New Year's Eve 2000 computer bug causing the end of the world trade system. That had no truth as it turned out. Except it proved that mega-money scams can now be easily implemented whenever a Government Conspiracy mandates belief in one after another "scientists" predictions of the end of the world that can only be stopped by surrendering all our money to the Government's earmarked best friends.; 9/11/09, 1:24 PM
rhhardin said...: Imus kept cutting out as various feeds went down, and stations cut away from Imus for national coverage.

Program directors didn't know what they had. Imus had the best coverage of anybody; which in fact is typical.

Everybody else covers for the benefit of their own reputations; Imus just says what he knows. If he doesn't know, he says so.

My chief reaction was how soon we strike back. 3000 people isn't a big deal, 10000 a day die every day. What it portends is the big deal.

I think the memorials are chiefly self indulgence now, a form of entertainment, which you can confirm by listening to the coverage.

You can remember what it portends without it pretty easily. Islam moves this way or it will get wiped out pretty ruthlessly. Bush was doing Islam a favor so far as he could.

You can anthropormorphize that at best by linking up with this or that tragic story but it's not good for anybody.; 9/11/09, 1:44 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: My reaction that morning when it sunk in on all of us at work was to go on line at a guestbook that served like a blogg and post "NYC in under attack".

People got political very soon.

Scroll all the way to the bottom -
Scroll all the way to the bottom .; 9/11/09, 1:48 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Reading back I wrote.

WE HAVE TO RESPOND SWIFTLY!

THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES MUST BE UNAPOLOGETICALY AVENGENCED!

and then later ..

Politeness, diplomacy and civilized behavior are on leave.; 9/11/09, 2:04 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Even the next day I was still reeling.

Only time precludes us from replacing those terrible images from the pentagon and the former World Trade Center with images of our enemies being implacably destroyed ten times fold.

When Bush says “all our resources” he is including weapons of mass destruction. A refusal to hand over the people responsible MAY engender just such a fate. I don’t think these people even realize the implication of what they have unleashed.

I heard the term "parking lot" a few times, hence the WMD reference.

wv - angra; 9/11/09, 2:14 PM
Shanna said...: I tried to make it through that stuff Lem but it is too sad. I’ll start crying and that’s no fun when you’re at work. At least no one else is in my office!

What I did read reminds me of how we feared the loss of life would be so much greater. Thank God it wasn’t as high as some of those early estimates.

My saddest memory post 9/11 (the whole day was sad as hell) was when I went to this luncheon thing with Ted Olsen and it turned out to be pretty much a memorial for his wife, who died on one of the dulles planes. That was so, so sad.; 9/11/09, 2:20 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I took the day off. I do that on the 9/11's I can.

wv - ample; 9/11/09, 2:35 PM
BJM said...: @rh, I think the MSM turns 9/11 into entertainment out of a deep disdain for sentiment borne of patriotism or national mourning not for a hero from their philosophical Pantheon.

To whit; Ted Kennedy's enshrinement.; 9/11/09, 2:41 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This was Mike a great commenter from Canada.

i watched the news from within minutes of the first plane hitting the WTC. i can't describe how i felt, though i was pacing a lot and shaking my hands like they'd fallen asleep. it was surreal.
a little after the second plane went down, i heard a loud 'explosion', or what sounded like an explosion to my racing imagination. i heard it 2-3 more times in rapid succession, and ran to the door to see what it was.

it was some guys tossing things from a 2nd storey window into an empty steel dumpster.

some time later, glued to the TV, i heard a low rumbling sound. it sounded like a jet of some sort - fighter, passenger, something. then there was this odd 'bink' sound, and i returned back from where ever i was.

as with the first imagined attack, this one turned out to be a golf ball being pushed along the dining room floor by a kitten. (yes, i laughed, partly from the humour and partly from relief).

these were silly imaginings, had by someone hundreds of miles away from the terror, but what made me think of them again was what carolyn had written so early this morning: if this is how we're reacting to what we saw, what must being going threw the minds of the people who watched the planes collide with the buildings from immediately below the WTC towers? Or watched people leaping to what we can only hope, morbidly, was a mercifully quick death? Or heard the phone call from a family member or coworker end abruptly, only to find out later why? Or watched, helplessly, as 107 storeys of concrete, steel and glass rained down on NYFD and NYPD members as they tried in vain to outrun their fate?

the canadian blood services received so many calls, their lines were tied up. the main hamilton office is only a 10 minute walk from my house, so i will probably make my way there this morning.

a year from now, we'll be watching a cnn retrospective on 'america under attack', and watch how the next 365 days has played out.

it is my fervent hope that on sept 11, 2002, part of that review includes the retribution exacted by the US on the behalf of those people whose lives were shattered yesterday morning.

i do not want to hear that 'violence begets violence', or that we won't accomplish anything by returning in kind what was done yesterday. this is no time to reason like hamlet, and exclude each course of action because of what might happen.

osama bin laden is not interested in peace or diplomacy, or interested in compromise or discussion. his is a world of guns and rockets, of any means to an end, of holding the world hostage.

it should be made known to both him and the taliban government of afghanistan which hosts and protects him, that the global society in which they exist, a society which they seek to alter against its collective will, will not be idle in its resolve to rid the world of evil.

my thoughts and prayers are with the men and women who lost their lives yesterday; with those still trapped beneath tons of rubble; with the rescue workers; with those whose lives will be forever effected by the events of yesterday; and with the george bush, on whose shoulders the mantle of justice now rests.; 9/11/09, 2:48 PM
Shanna said...: I took the day off. I do that on the 9/11's I can.

I think I've done that once before, but not in a while. As long as I don't think too much about it, I'm ok. Otherwise, waterworks!; 9/11/09, 2:49 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: As long as I don't think too much about it, I'm ok. Otherwise, waterworks!

I don't cry anymore.. as much as be disgusted with our seeming failure of will.

If somebody told me in those days that we would still be looking for Osama I would figure that person as a nut.; 9/11/09, 3:05 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I dont know .. maybe I'm wrong.

But it seems to me that after winning the cold war we have become a passive nation.

We are not even going back to the moon for cristsake.

I hate to sound pessimistic but thats how the world looks to me right now.; 9/11/09, 3:16 PM
Maxine Weiss said...: __________

wwww.maxinesplace.blogspot.com

________________; 9/11/09, 5:17 PM
Cedarford said...: Althouse - One of the most beautiful color composition photos you have taken. A tribute to you and to the person(s) that planned that garden and kept it up.

I visited your site 2 times today and stop and look at that photo for minutes, then go back to it and gaze again after writing a few comments....
To me, blue, green, teal, turquoise with sides or background of some black, silver, and white mixed in - are calming, reflective colors - and in combined composition.
When does the Althouse coffee table photo art book, or site where you can purchase & get poster prints of Althouse photos from Flicker come up??
I have a hankering for the willows and reflected water shot, this one, and maybe 20 others..; 9/11/09, 9:09 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Cedarford Thank you. Click through to the Flickr page and you'll see you can download a full size digital file of any of my photos and print out a poster yourself under the Creative Commons license if you like.; 9/11/09, 9:18 PM
Penny said...: For the most part, I used to always prefer photographs that included people. Somehow I've been "led astray" here at Althouse, and I can't decide exactly why that is?

I have two, very personal theories:

1. Althouse's pictures, along with their introductions, are hitting some current nerve in my psyche, or

2. Because I started to dabble in painting, and because I like painting beautiful things, I look at nearly every Althouse photograph as something I might like to paint...but I CANNOT paint people, and thank goodness, she doesn't muddy up too many of her pictures with people.; 9/11/09, 10:45 PM
Penny said...: By the way, Ann, I was talked into entering some of my paintings in my arts' group show at a local community gallery. Someone's art needed to say "new kid on the block", and THAT had my name all over it.

I was proud I had the courage to try, and proud to have the courage to show as the least accomplished among many. It didn't feel good at first, but I did it anyway.

One of these paintings was from your photograph of an iris. You know my email address, and I would consider it an honor to send you this painting as my "thanks for the inspiration".

You won't be hanging it in your home, but you might pull it out, with all its obvious inadequacies, to motivate your next class of new law students.; 9/11/09, 10:59 PM
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