2002-09-11 3:19 p.m. There wasn't any road rage on the drive in to work this morning. Amazing. None at all. You'd be hard pressed to drive anywhere between Baltimore and Washington and not witness at least a glimmer of inter-driver hatred. Like I said, today there was none. I've only ever seen that twice in my life before today. September 11 and 12, 2001. The 11th, naturally, everyone who was on the road was just trying to get home. That day, we all existed in separate universes of horror or worry. On the 12th, I think we were all in shock. No one was in a hurry to get anywhere. No one was, at least in what I saw, sure what to do or how to act. Today was exactly the same. And yet, so different. The same actions today, at least on the road, but different motivations. It's almost like we recognize that there's a person filled with dignity and purpose behind the walls of metal and glass. It won't last. Of course it won't. But for now, for today, it's nice. It makes one hope we can act this way all the time. People are upset that the media is "over-hyping" the 9/11 tradgedy. Well, yes. And, well, duh. They're the media; that's what they do. Overhyping comes naturally to them. Not that that's an excuse for them, all the same we should be media-savvy enough to realize that the hype will always be there. While I felt the need to make some personal, inward commemeration of the events of last year, I also felt it wasn't right for me to sit on the couch and watch the towers fall again and again. If you need to do that to commemerate, fine - that's your prerog. If you needed to watch all the network news specials about the families of the loved and lost to help you grieve - do it. I didn't need to. So I turned off the TV. What am I trying to say? I really don't know. But maybe it's that we all need to find whatever way works best for us to remember, to honor, and to commemorate. And we need to recognize that we all have different ways of remebering. The eleventh effected each of us in a different manner. We can't fault eachother for wanting to remember it in a different way. In any case, time marches on. Yes, we should remember the past, but we have no place dwelling there. President Bush says we can combat the ideals of Terrorism by exercising the liberty and the compassion that they so despise. I was moved by his speech. I know there are many Americans who don't agree with our President, I know there are many people from other countries who don't like Americans very much. Say what you will. But how do we, as a country remember the terror that brought us to our knees? Not by clenched fist and red-faced anger. Not with guns fired in the air or by angry rhetoric. No, America remembers with quiet dignity. And then we're reminded that, in the end, all that really matters is how much we helped eachother. Tonight, I'm going to leave work early and drive to Virginia. I'm going to eat dinner with a great girl and I'm going to laugh and I'm going to smile. After I get home and before I fall asleep, I'm going to say a short prayer of thanks. Thanks that I'm still here. Thanks for the bottomless love for and unbounding faith in this place I call home. And thanks that I'm in what is, for me anyway, the greatest nation on earth. downtown----uptown leave me a note, fool!

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