I don't take many things all that seriously with the possible exception of my cocktails. But today is a day that Americans will never forget. Today is a day similar to the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated - you remember where you were and what you were doing when "it" happened. It is September 11 and today in 2001, 2993 people were killed when terrorists took control of several commercial airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

I was at home that morning because I was getting ready to go on vacation in Vienna. Rasputin was here as well because he was going with Alice and I. I had turned on the television and just stood there watching as the news started trickling in. I can't really describe the emotions you feel as anything other than utter shock. Video of the towers, the smoke, was on every channel as people tried to figure out what had happened.

Needless to say, we didn't go on vacation, and Rasputin, Alice and I spent a very quiet, confusing week here at home. Quiet, because there were no airplanes flying. That blanket of silence enveloped us and let us take in the horror of what had happened.

Today is now called Patriot Day in the United States. Call it what you want, but today is a day when we can consider how hatred and violence ravage our world. Today is a day to remember the 2993 people who died in the attacks and the countless people who have died since as a result of them.

Our world changed that day. We can go back to our works, to our gardens, to our lives, but there is no return to blissful innocence.

-- Jack


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Day