News reports today will trumpet words commemorating a tragedy of immense proportions as symbolic buildings in Washington DC and New York City were ripped open and torn apart. In the United States, the day of 911 has taken its own shape as a second Memorial Day, remembered chiefly to appease the psychological pain that has seeped into a national consciousness that no longer feels utterly removed from the rest of the world. Since that fateful day five years ago, Americans hear more about Islam, Pakistan, and a whole series of internationally minded topics than they did before (whether they actually know more as a collective public is a debatable point). And since that fateful day, a whole number of other activities carried out by the US government have placed this country within a new context in world affairs that will affect nearly everyone on the planet for years to come.
Dramatic words, I should say. Closer to home, it is my sister's birthday (poor thing that others around her consider it such a downer day). It is raining gently as I look out towards the windows in my office building in semi-rural Maryland. I hear that the weather in New York City is eerily similar to the conditions on the day that the World Trade Center buildings fell. I guess it is just as well. Although today is just another day, something does feel a bit different as the news reports on 911 memorials continue to gush forward.
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