9-11 Plus 10 Years
Sep. 12th, 2011 12:02 amThe memorial at the fire station in Mid-town Manhattan still chokes me with emotion when I walk by it.
We remember the primary trigger of that day– the destruction of the World Trade Center– but the scope of that day and the weeks that followed it are hard to put into words. No planes in the sky for three days! Anthrax fears in New York and Washington, DC. Dirty bombs. Fear and stunned shock.
The unprecedented grounding of commercial flights for that many days, almost world-wide, was so unique that scientists were able to do something they weren't able to do in the modern age: test the effects of contrails on climate forcing.
I visited NYC ten days after the attacks, despite great anxiety about further attacks and flying and going into the center of all of these events. I have never before or since experienced a New York City so subdued and somber. No honking. People going about their lives in a numb stumble. Tourists were treated like heroes: we were lauded for braving the dangers to come and visit their city.
New York City is the greatest, the most resilient and colorful city in the world. I'm so glad its spirit returned in a few short years. The honking and yelling is still annoying, but at the same time comforting. Much in the same way that a mother's nagging can be a comfort. We miss it when it's gone.
We remember the primary trigger of that day– the destruction of the World Trade Center– but the scope of that day and the weeks that followed it are hard to put into words. No planes in the sky for three days! Anthrax fears in New York and Washington, DC. Dirty bombs. Fear and stunned shock.
The unprecedented grounding of commercial flights for that many days, almost world-wide, was so unique that scientists were able to do something they weren't able to do in the modern age: test the effects of contrails on climate forcing.
I visited NYC ten days after the attacks, despite great anxiety about further attacks and flying and going into the center of all of these events. I have never before or since experienced a New York City so subdued and somber. No honking. People going about their lives in a numb stumble. Tourists were treated like heroes: we were lauded for braving the dangers to come and visit their city.
New York City is the greatest, the most resilient and colorful city in the world. I'm so glad its spirit returned in a few short years. The honking and yelling is still annoying, but at the same time comforting. Much in the same way that a mother's nagging can be a comfort. We miss it when it's gone.