I don't remember times, or anything like that, a lot of that day is sort of a haze in my memory. The night before I had gotten very little sleep, as I had been up all night coding a website for someone. On Sept 11th, my mother woke me out of a sound sleep (yeah, I still lived at home) and told me a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I threw on some pants and followed her into the living room, plopped down in a chair just in time to watch the second plane hit the second tower.
That woke me up.
To this day, that image still stands out in my head. I still remember the words of the news anchor. I still remember my phone ringing about a minute after the plane hit, and my sometimes-girlfriend asking "are you watching this ....?"
I sat at home for an hour or so watching the news. Finally I called and got no answer at the Internet "radio" studio where I had a weekly show. I called a friend who also had a show and we agreed to meet there. After a yelling match with my mother who would have been happier had I dug a hole and crawled into it, given that I was driving about 15 - 20 miles closer to downtown Houston (and would literally be on its doorstep), I set out.
I met Darwin at the Earthwire studio, and we hung with Martin, and a few other people who were there. For quite a while, we all took turns relaying news and information onto the live feed. Finally we gave up and basically started playing music and redirecting people to CNN's website if they wanted updated information, stating that it was just coming too quickly for us to keep up with it, and that out regularly scheduled DJs would have whatever info they would have - if they showed up.
So for the next 18 hours or so, we held vigil in a small building that had a ton of history on the edge of downtown Houston/Monstrose, and held a small party, poetry slam, live jam session, prayer session, and even a pagan spell or ritual or two were done for the benefit of those caught in the buildings, and those gone to their aid.
All in all, we spent a long time sitting there, live on the "air", remembering people we didn't even know. People we didn't even know were dead or alive. People we didn't even know who we didn't even know were dead or alive, putting every ounce of energy and good will we had towards their rescue and life saving efforts.
After a good sleep that night (12 - 14 hours), I was back the next day, and did it again. I think we kept it up until Sunday, making it a week long event. It's helped cement what it was all about, and what this nation is all about, and how we all pull together in times of crisis and need. Well, in times of crisis, at least. I've learned on my own that we don't pull together in times of need, not unless there's crisis involved. But that's just my cynical nature.
Anyway, September 11th is burned into my memory, from just waking up and wiping my eyes, lowering my hand, and seeing a plane fly into a building, to announcing stuff "on the air," to MCing the poetry slam. That day will never die in my mind.
