Talked to Ron today. He is staying in the same hotel, going to the irish "pub" Mulligan's he found last time. He says that the feeling is very different down there, since they have definitely switched to recovery. A huge crane is supposed to be coming in tonight to remove some of the really large pieces. Things are still being sifted through after they're removed to Staten Island.
I guess from what he said that they had found a void which led to an area of an underground parking lot. Firemen went in, team with dogs went in and found nothing.
I was thinking that they should use some of the dust to blend in with whatever they build, in whatever monuments or memorials they build. No doubt it would actually contain molecules of the victims.
I needed to go to Walmarts today - a rather surreal experience in normal times. To add to my confusion they are rearranging the store. I came home with the mundane things on my list but I sprang for four "best of" albums: Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, The Beatles (the 1 album) and John Lennon (Lennon Legend). I guess I needed a little break from the familiar celtic music we normally have going.
Instead of getting better, I'm still processing apparently. I got through the first week of Apple Store Training. I worked on quilts. Bottom line is that I'm weepier now than I was last week. As I was telling Ron about this we were both saying the prospect of dropping bombs and engaging in warfare is scary. Is it only so for those who remember Viet Nam? Gulf War? As Ron said - why drop bombs on Afghanistan - to kill some badly needed goats?
Making real progress on the 911 quilt. An email that another friend sent today sparked some ideas for the center portion so that's what I worked on tonight
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11:31:34 PM
Ron's gone back to NYC today to do some rope descents into a large void they have discovered. He expects to be gone 5 days. Here's a few photos from his last trip down there, since the original posting has gone into archive at this point.
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7:35:28 PM
Almost made it through the week. One more day.
I've made some progress on the 911 quilt, despite being tired and confused and perhaps still a little shell shocked.
Ron's going back to the city tomorrow, probably for five days.
I forgot to post here that my amish-inspired nine patch won 2nd place in the unfinished category at East Side Quilters' annual open house. There were some beautiful quilts there and a few inspired by last week's events which had us a bit teary.
Tonight my guild, East Side Quilters had our annual open house. We advertise the meeting and serve light refreshments and welcome visitors. The main activities though are two-fold. We present our "charity quilts" to the organizations that we're giving them to. Tonight we gave about a dozen quilts each to Unity House and Davids House in Troy. Both serve displaced people, homeless people, victims of violence etc. Davids House is really a place for displaced families. We give our quilts and could probably give that many each month and not fill the need.
The other thing we do is have the results of our yearly challenge. This year's challenge was to make something that involved a ninepatch block. And to tie it somehow to a famous line, bit of poem, title, song verse etc. We had lots of entries this year, from very traditional to not. I won second place in the unfinished category for my amish nine patch. My theme was "Order from Chaos."
There were several small quilts made in response to last week's terrorist acts. One woman could barely describe her quilt and her reason for making it.
Quite a contrast from my day today. Day two of training. I keep wondering - doesn't your face hurt from all that smiling? I don't know what to make of it, but it ain't good. And yet it seems pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things. And as I keep reminding myself - I need a job, I need a job.
"Heroism, the Casucasian mountaineers say, is endurance for one moment more." -- George Kennan
I think now that the terrorist attacks have affected me more than I was willing to think. I started my new job today and I just found it difficult to deal with the ever-cheerfulness of the group. I found it hard to even go. I found it hard to go to sleep last night. I gave myself umpteen peptalks about how I really need to get a paying job and regain some independence and security. I made a promise to myself that I would stay at the job for a week.
At ten o'clock I almost left. actually I almost turned tail and left when they "welcomed" us into the room where we were first meeting. I felt like a sullen cranky outsider. The only woman other than myself and the trainer is the manager. When she told me how I was the only "girl" and how they had really wanted to have a better mix.... well. I stayed in my seat and mentioned to my neighbor that I had worked in a print shop with all guys and I wasn't afraid of them. For the record, I'm not a "girl." I'm a woman.
Ron's going back to the city sometime this week after having a go-around with his office about arranging the coverage of his hours in order to go. As I said to him tonight, on day 7 there are no heroes. The people still working are not flush with the excitement or the anticipation of the great rescue. There are only people dedicated to finding and recovering whatever remains there are in that pile of rubble, so they may be returned to their families and afforded a dignified end. there is no glory there. The conditions are not exciting. There is no adrenaline rush generated by the stench of bodies.
First photos by Ron from the WTC site. More to come.
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4:13:08 PM
Ron's back home as of Saturday night. He may be re-deployed in a couple days but that remains uncertain. He was pretty tired, so I expect to hear a lot more about his experience tomorrow. After they'd gotten back to the area, he called to say he was at a local hospital having bloods drawn and various tests to establish baselines because of all the hazmat exposure.
I spent part of today at the VFW post with East Side Quilters. I got the binding on the winter grant quilt. Tonight I was about to start quilting on October Sky but instead started a new quilt. I think it's coming along pretty well.
