Aaand summer is back.
It's not really, of course. The harvest is coming in fast, now, the swallows are staging to migrate, the goldenrod is coming into bloom....Fall is well underway. I mean it's hot and humid and I wish it wasn't. I'd like a good summer storm to cool things off, and I heard some rumblings in the distance today and even saw one cloud-to-ground strike far off, but none of the storms came our way.
I was supposed to teach a workshop today but had to cancel because the people who were interested had an extended field trip in another class and weren't going to be able to make it. So, I ended up spending the afternoon lying on my bed, watching the hummingbirds at the bean vines out on my deck, wishing it were cooler, wishing for cooling rain, and thinking about things.
And I was thinking about 9/11. The 9/11, I mean, the attacks. They're getting to be a long time ago, now. I mean, I could have a conversation with someone who wasn't born yet when that happened* and sometimes I do--my brother's kids, for example.
I remember that day. I remember before and I remember after. And someday there won't be anybody who remembers before--the amount of time before that event is finite, we've had all of it there is. There are days that change a person intentionally. I mean, when I first came to this place, I had no idea what it would mean for my life, what I was getting into, but I did it on purpose. And in a way I did know. I knew that here was a place that would be magical in some way, important, worth putting my energy into and caring about. I knew it was a place I wanted to belong and thought that perhaps I could. I was changing something and I was excited about it.
But when I woke up on September 11th, 2001, I didn't know that day would be different.
* Remember, this is set ten years in the past.
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