Remembering 9/11....

This morning as I was biking over the 14th Street Bridge, I saw that someone had duct-taped small American flags every 10 ft. or so on the bridge railing. I remembered that I had seen this on that bridge last September 11th... Up ahead, I saw a lady who looked like she was fixing or applying more flags, so perhaps she was the Flag Lady. Perhaps she lost someone that day when the plane crashed into the Pentagon... I think in a way, we want to remember that awful day, and in another way, we want to push the painful memories away.... I was just beginning the day at work on that fateful day...and one of my bosses arrived and told me what he had heard on the news. I couldn't believe it, and logged onto CNN...and there it was, the World Trade Center with smoke coming out of it.... Later in the morning, the office had a television available in a conference room to view the news. Several people decided to leave work, to be with their family. Our office closed at noon, and looking outside the office window, the traffic was TOTALLY gridlock. One lady in my office said she was jealous that I had a bike that I could get home and out of the city easily... Some people said the next day that it took them up to 5 or 6 hours to get home, due to the traffic and subway problems! I headed out and wound my way through the tight traffic, and where necessary, hopped onto the sidewalk, but even then, there were a lot of pedestrians because a lot of people decided to walk home if they lived nearby. They felt the subway wasn't safe. As I exited Georgetown and turned the corner to go over the Key Bridge, the traffic was blocked by policemen on either end of the bridge who were evidently checking drivers licenses and not allowing people to come into DC unless they showed proof of residency. Here I was, riding right down the middle of a 6-lane bridge with no traffic at all - how odd!! I got on the bike path and headed to Falls Church. Traffic had been totally clogged on the roads for 6 miles straight before it eased up. I got home, arriving about 15 minutes later than my normal commuting time. I was very glad to be a bike commuter that day, for sure! I suggested to some people in the office that they ought to think about keeping a bike at the office or in their car trunk, so they could have a way out of the city also, in another emergency...it definitely comes in handy.