9-11 in New York

I planned to avoid turning on the TV on September 11th. I wasn't interested in seeing how the government was going to twist this horrible event, but when I heard that the "Tribute In Light" project was going to be turned back on for one day, I struggled with it, but then I decided that was something that I had to go and see, since it had never been on while I lived in New York. And while I was at it, I would grab some pictures for the blog.

So I got out at Chambers street, and as I walked towards Ground Zero, I could see the remnants of the memorial trickling away from the site; Sailors, soldiers, Buddhist monks, fathers with crying children. And then I was in the middle of it, and this time more than any other that I had visited it, I could feel that this was a place where many people had died.

And soon I felt a little guilty for being there with a camera, if only because everyone was there to take a picture, to chip off a little piece of the experience to keep in a box and show off later. It reminded me of when they took the Pope's body through the streets of Italy, and everyone was trying to grab a picture with their camera phones.

And as I walked deeper into the crowd, it grew more raucous and disorganized. Protesters argued with people on the sidewalk. People swarmed around a children's choir singing hymns, trying to grab a photo of them. But as you walked towards the fence, you could tell that some were here to pay tribute to love ones lost.

I pushed through the crowd, and as I moved away from them, I walked closer and closer to the base of the light towers. It was an amazing, breathtaking, awe inspiring experience. After moving past all that grief and confusion, to come to the base of those light towers, pushing towards the sky, was a very emotionally powerful feeling. I rode the Staten Island Ferry out to take a look at it from the Statue of Liberty. I'm really glad I got my butt off the couch to see this thing. I can't imagine a more incredible art installation.