The Weather
Walking outside this morning, I thought the exact same thing I've thought on every nice day for the past four years: today is just like September 11th. Impossibly clear skies, sun shining, low humidity, eighty degrees. Perfect. But fragile.
This morning, and for the past week and a half, the beautiful weather has been even more poignant. Is it fair to enjoy it when there are thousands and thousands of people struggling in the south?
I'm trying to remember, now, when, after September 11th, it became OK to appreciate small good things, like the weather. But I can't. I do remember Giuliani going on SNL and telling Lorne Michaels that it was OK to laugh again. That was two weeks after the attacks. But I can't put my finger on when every moment of every day shifted from being mostly bad, sad and angry to mostly good and hopeful again.
The aftermath of this disaster is different, of course. Destruction on a much larger scale, and without an enemy to blame (though there certainly doesn't seem to be a shortage of people looking for someone to blame). Does that mean we mourn longer? Shorter? The same?
The one thing I do know is that I'll never experience another perfect early fall day without appreciating just how fragile it is.
This morning, and for the past week and a half, the beautiful weather has been even more poignant. Is it fair to enjoy it when there are thousands and thousands of people struggling in the south?
I'm trying to remember, now, when, after September 11th, it became OK to appreciate small good things, like the weather. But I can't. I do remember Giuliani going on SNL and telling Lorne Michaels that it was OK to laugh again. That was two weeks after the attacks. But I can't put my finger on when every moment of every day shifted from being mostly bad, sad and angry to mostly good and hopeful again.
The aftermath of this disaster is different, of course. Destruction on a much larger scale, and without an enemy to blame (though there certainly doesn't seem to be a shortage of people looking for someone to blame). Does that mean we mourn longer? Shorter? The same?
The one thing I do know is that I'll never experience another perfect early fall day without appreciating just how fragile it is.
posted by Kit Pollard at
1:13 PM
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