I was in Kathmandu on 9/11. Just 2 months earlier Nepal's royal family had been massacred by their crazed crown prince. Also, the Maoist insurgency in Nepal was really getting serious. So, I was already in shock. Being a native New Yorker, 9/11 seemed personal to me. I had just decided to return to New York and America after 30 years of living in Nepal and India. My return was delayed by the the flights being cancelled after 9/11. When I arrived in New York ground zero was still smoking. What a traumatic time for all!
Dear Dallas: First of all "Shana Tova"/Happy New Year!" Although the holiday of Rosh Hashana is not your direct tradition, your willingness to understand so many religious and secular humanistic approaches to life make me sure that you will welcome these good wishes for a happy and fruitful year ahead. It is interesting to celebrate "two" "New Years" - and if we can use both to focus on the future andwhat we still can do and in the year ahead it will be just fine. I can't resist writing -although briefly- to this recent blog.) Your experiences around this birthday, as usual, were well written and thought provoking, and your images a delight. I remember Arches and Zion and the reds and creams and crazy shapes of these stone sculptures from when we made a trip there some years ago (Oh dear! many many years ago!) But although we have changed considerably over the years, the rocks have not. They change with the light, they may change with the season, but the changes are far longer than any one life. These parks remind us how "wonder"ful the earth can be. And as I looked at the mashed up/mushed up car, I can only be greatful that neither of you were in the car when the drunk driver plowed into it. I remember being suprisingly saddened when our Prius tried to be a submarine last summer when we had torrential rains, and when we therefore had to give it up. But compared to the issues of health and illness and cancer that you were dealing with at the conference you were attending, and your comments about aging in general, the crash was just money (and some time - but you used it well), and that is far less important than life and lives and love. That's it for now; my love and best to Susan, G'night.Harriet
Dallas, on September 8th I became 75 years old. You may find, as did I, that "old age" commences at 70 years old. I still do most of the things I did when younger, but the intervals of rest have grown about as long a work times. My prose writings about life in the Old South are now appearing in a regional history magazine, "The Old Tennessee Valley Magazine," so that is giving me an interesting new pursuit. It mainly circulates in two states (Alabama and Tennessee), but I hear from subscribers in other areas who can relate to those times. As usual, an excellent job with your blog! Elton
5 Comments on Reflections on 9/11 and a Significant Birthday