A Tragi-Day in Pictures
I know, I was supposed to get this done much earlier this week or even over the weekend but things have been busy and I got a new game (Madden 2003) for the PS2 so cut me some slack.

My birthday, 9/11, and the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history (yeah, like you all needed that reminder) began quietly, a little after midnight I remembered that it was actually officially my birthday. So I grabbed my camera and headed out to snap a few pics to start the day(night) off right. Full Moon Its hard to snap pics of the full moon and have them mean something so I just snapped and went back to bed (and yes, this is the best of the bunch).

After finally getting bed, we rolled out, packed up and headed up over the hill to drop off the car and get a ride to the airport. We parked in Los Gatos, a lovely day out and I shot this pic of the street, Los Gatos Street and the Jetta, Jetta in Los Gatos.

After our pal got out of his meeting, we were dropped off at the airport and were soon awaiting the boarding call to take the first of our flights for the day, Boarding Area. Not much over security so far on the day, just a normal check point. I later learned that travelling with P was part of the reason, I no longer fit the single guy profile. Oh boy, no more body cavity checks!

Once we were settled in and the plane was continuing to fill, On the plane awaiting takeoff, I started playing with my false zoom lens attachment, Zoom pics and what happens when you snap a pic through the wrong end of the monocular, Wrong End of Monocular.

We got to fly over Lake Tahoe during the daylight, which was cool as I'd not seen it before (or hadn't been paying attention or was in a non-window seat), Boarding Area, more Boarding Area and some more Boarding Area. Later on there was a cool and huge S in a river we flew over, Big River S.

And then the wing tip was just begging to have its picture taken, Northwest Wing Tip.

The next thing I knew, we were on the ground in Minnesota, in the rain, Mini-Soda Rain, and no Sedalina sightings, damn! Oh well, how about another pic of the rain? Rainy Airport in Mini-Soda. The nice thing about flying is that you can almost always rise above the nasty weather and see a decent sunset if the timing is right, Sunset at 37,000 feet.

New York was mellow, quiet and people seemed to be very cool to each other. The pics of the WTC memorial didn't come out so I'll have to cheat here and post some that aren't mine. But it was every bit as brilliant and poignant and calming in real life as in the pictures. A ground level shot of my own, 9/11 in New York, before we headed up the street to Gray's Papaya, Gray's Papaya for a little snack, the continuation of a tradition and to introduce P to one of my favorite New York City landmarks, Inside Gray's Papaya.

Then it was back to the apartment, a night's rest and the weekend up to Maine with the family. And yes, those pictures forthcoming as well.