My goodness!  I can't believe it is already September!  The good news is, the weather has cooled down and we've had quite a bit of rain.  In fact, we've had storms that are more like what we would normally get in the spring, so I've been off the computer quite a few evenings because of the lightening.  I don't sleep when it is stormy, so there have been a few evenings where I didn't get more than a couple of hours a night.  When I was younger, that wasn't such a big deal.  But now, it's a DISASTER!!!    That's another reason I haven't been writing much.  I've had cotton in my brain from lack of sleep...

September 11, 2006 

Talk about how fast time goes, I can hardly believe it has been 5 years since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and since United flight 93 crashed after passengers refused to allow the hijacking of that aircraft to continue unimpeded.  So many people died.  So many innocent people.  I think it's important that we remember.  It's far too easy for us to forget.

I was at work.  I was still married and my (then) husband called to tell me that a plane has accidentally crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers.  No one dreamed it was a terrorist attack...not at first.  A horrible accident.  A tragedy.  A nightmare.  But then it got worse.  Another airliner crashed into the second tower.  And suddenly, an entire nation was brought to its knees.  Someone had done this intentionally.  This was no accident.

The grief was overwhelming.  It was hard to comprehend.  Why would anyone do this?  Purposefully attack innocent people.  Thousands of them.  Then we heard about the Pentagon.  And suddenly, we wondered how many more hijacked airliners were out there heading for yet another target?

There were rumors that an aircraft had crashed in a field...that it might have been headed for the White House.  Then the details about United flight 93 started filtering in.

We watched as the towers fell, one after the other.  It was beyond belief.  Everyone cried.  Everyone grieved.  Most of us are still grieving in one way or another.  Lives were lost, innocence was taken from us.  We were all changed.

Many have forgotten why we are currently at war, fighting terrorism.  We need to remember.  9/11/2001.

     Remember...9/11/2001

September 21, 2006 

 It's starting to feel like fall.  Today the temperatures have dropped into the high 60's to low 70's and we have had a gentle rain off and on the entire day.  Until today, it's still been pretty hot.  Early mornings have been cooler, but it's warmed up quickly to high 80's to low 90's.   But today, I can believe that fall is right around the corner. 

I had an interesting experience the other day.  I was talking with a friend on the phone when I caught a shadow out of the corner of my eye.  The next thing I know, there is a huge hawk sitting right outside my window!  It had just "obtained" its lunch.  It was no more than 3 or 4 feet away from me, so I was afraid to move.  I figured it would see me through the window if I did.  I think it got a snake (go hawk, go!!!) because whatever it was munching on looked kind of long and stringy.  It was a beautiful bird and I wish I could have gotten a picture to share with you, but I knew it would be gone if I stood up.  As I watched, it finished eating, then flew away.  What a treat to see such an incredible bird up close.