I just put up the last photo I took of the World Trade Center. It will stay as a link in the main bar at the top of this spiel for those times when things seem too much.
Leaving New York this morning was a strain, both physically and mentally. Due to the Holland Tunnel still being closed the Lincoln tunnel took two hours instead of the usual 20 minutes. That was nothing compared to the mental anguish I felt driving away from the city again. The desire to stay and be near my friends was overwhelming. I didn’t manage to see everyone I wanted to see over the weekend and doubt I will for a while yet. I am, in theory, off on holiday on Thursday night, flying back to the UK, but flights are still in disarray and I’m not sure what will happen. I’ll take the holiday whatever, just not sure where it will be.
It’s been interesting a) how different people cope and b) how people are already starting to joke about things. Maybe it’s because I was out of the city for so long, but I just wanted to be with friends as opposed to volunteering for something, anything, as many people have been. I feel guilty for not doing enough, but then I realize that just being there for people is often the best thing you can do.
As for the joking, even Guiliani made a remark that now it might even be possible to get tickets for The Producers (hit musical on Broadway). The magnitude of this event is hard to take in. Even only being a few miles away in Brooklyn it has seemed unreal. A gap in the skyline with a faint plume of smoke. Jokes make it seem less scary, less real, safer. The discussions about repurcussions and the knock on effects end up being depressing. Noone wants things to get worse than they are. Biological warfare is on everyone’s minds, as is the possibility of WWIII.
The most poignant moment for me was in one of my daily cartoons. User Friendly ran this strip. Sneaking passed by defences and making me cry for the first time since I saw the towers hit. Thank you for that moment of reality.