In four different cities in the U.S. and Africa, I have visited buildings that were later turned to rubble (in whole or in part) by terrorist attack, including the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The mailroom of the building where I work, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was among those where traces of anthrax bacteria were found. As with the near misses I've had in my travels, I'm beginning to wonder when my luck will run out.
I always thought it was an advantage to live at the center of a target for a potential nuclear attack. Here, midway between the Pentagon and the White House where I sleep, work and play seems as likely a place as any for that to occur. Imagining instant incineration at a "ground zero" still seems preferable to slower alternatives or putting up with any anarchy and chaos that might ensue. Now that smaller scale mass destruction -- conventional, chemical, biological or nuclear -- seems increasingly plausible with each new event that drives home the point, this location at the center of the superpower universe is beginning to lose its appeal. More people than we might have thought are willing to die in their attempts to reak havoc. Government's best attempts to prevent them are likely to fail on occasion. The city in which I live will ALWAYS be a lightning rod for the world's grievances, and at the very least, people who live in places such as DC and New York's Manhatten will always feel the risks a bit more acutely than the rest of you do out in the hinterlands. Even suburban Washingtonians, people who live and work just beyond the Beltway, do not sense the palpable risks as much as those of us who ride the subways every day or who are now pondering receiving an anthrax vaccine.
I'm pretty good about putting risks into perspective. Getting killed while driving my car on the Beltway is a gazillion times more probable than being in a building when it gets hit by an airplane. Although I sometimes travel to countries where the death rate due to violence exceeds that of my own city, I realize that according to statistics, I am far more likely to die from an accident, disease or natural cause right inside my own home. Nevertheless, I believe that unlike any other city in the world, DC is where terrorists, foreign and domestic, will always want to go whenever they want to go for the jugular vein -- and my daily pathways tend to follow that vein and many of its prominant arteries. I don't consider it irrational to contemplate these things in the context of options I may consider for my future. I like this city, my job, and my life here a whole lot, so I'm not sure what it all means or what choices I might make.
Here are some photos I've taken that reflect events related to the September 11th tragedies and their aftermath:
Damage at the
Pentagon, Arlington VA, Sept. 2001
Anti-war demonstrators,
Wash. DC, Sept. 2001
Pro-war demonstrators,
Wash. DC, Sept. 2001
An interesting
encounter, Wash. DC, Sept. 2001
Last remnants
of the World Trade Center, Dec. 2001
Downtown NYC
minus the WTC, Dec. 2001
Downtown NYC
minus the WTC, Dec. 2001
Missing people
on a wall at Penn Station, NYC, Dec. 2001
My stepfather Ben has been hospitalized since early November due to complications apparently associated with his disease -- Primary Lateral Sclerosis. He has been suffering particularly from serious inflammation and open sores, particularly on his feet and lower back. Thankfully, at the time of this writing, he is improving nicely and has maintained generally good spirits in spite of experiencing some painful moments earlier this autumn. Meanwhile, my mother continues to do reasonably well, though more of her attention has been focused on providing care for Ben lately. Unfortunately, they have had to cancel their annual winter migration to Minnesota.
Other Autumn events:
-- Attended the wedding of friends, Max and Olga Milendorf,
in Boston -- a wild time with a Russian flavor.
-- Took a quick trip to Minnesota to visit my family
over the Veterans Day weekend on a $51 bargain flight (plus $32 in taxes).
COMING UP NEXT QUARTER: A trip to Arizona and California.
Check in and let me know what's up with you.
You can contact me by clicking on this E-mail address:
mail@deanoman.com.
Review previous newsletters:
Summer
01 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 1, 09/01/01 -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and
Minnesota
Spring
01 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 4, 06/01/01 -- Baltic Nations, Poland and
Czech Republic
Winter
01 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 3, 03/01/01 -- Boston and Arizona
Fall 00
-- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 2, 12/01/00 -- Colorado, Minnesota and Gettysburg
Summer
00 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 1, 09/01/00 -- Minnesota and Washington
Spring
00 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 4, 06/01/00 -- Eurailing in Europe, and Minnesota
Winter
00 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 3, 03/01/00 -- Jamaica, Arizona and the Millennium
Fall 99
-- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 2, 12/01/99 -- The Middle East and Minnesota
Summer
99 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 1, 09/01/99 -- Minnesota
Spring
99 -- Dean's News Vol 2, No. 4, 06/01/99 -- Pacific Northwest
Winter
99 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 3, 03/01/99 -- Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Fall 98
-- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 2, 12/01/98 -- Germany, Poland and Czech Republic
Summer
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 1, 09/01/98 -- A summer romance
Spring
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 4, 06/01/98 -- New York City and Minnesota
trips
Winter
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 3, 03/01/98 -- Arizona and Colorado trip
Fall 97
-- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 2, 12/01/97 -- Venezuela and Trinidad
Summer
97 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 1, 09/01/97 -- Toronto and Niagara Falls
Best wishes to all,
Deano
