9/11

I arrived at work thinking nothing amiss. Matt passed me in the hall and said "It's your fault!" He always had a cockeyed sense of humor, but this was even odder than usual. I turned on the radio for some music, and it wasn't. The BBC web site was snowed under, as was the NYT. I kept trying, but one thing was clear through the conflicting reports. This was war.

The bulk of my adult life the country had been at peace, modulo a skirmish here and there--and the skirmishes were far afield.

I knew history well enough to know that state couldn't last; wouldn't last. It hadn't. I tried to imagine my 8-year old son going off to war in ten years. It wasn't easy. 20 years later, it still isn't.

I didn't like seeing the flags at half staff. It was war--fly it high.

It still is. The war is cold for now, but that won't last.