Tuesday, September 22, 2009

First Day of Fall


Wildflower, originally uploaded by pappy65.

Today is another beautiful first day of Fall. The picture remines me of a walk taken four years ago. Seems like only yesterday. Time passes on, but remains much the same in these days that are the Fall of my life.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Edinboro Football

Saturday, September 12, offered a beautiful late summer afternoon, perfect for a football game. The Edinboro Fighting Scots defeated C. W. Post 31 to 23 in a come from behind victory that turned into a see-saw contest with Edinboro able to go ahead in the fourth quarter and grind out the final minutes for a victory.
EUP vs CW Post

Halftime
An entertaining half-time show featured some well played music by the Edinboro University Marching Band and graceful moves by the dance team.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Nine Eleven Zero One

9/11/01, most of us remember where we were and what we were doing when we first heard about the suicidal attacks by Al-Qaeda on the United States. Although, at first, we may not have understood what was happening.

On September 11, 2001, I was working in my office when a colleague came in to say a plane had just crashed into the Twin Towers. My first response was matter-of-fact. Hadn’t small planes crashed into large buildings before causing fire and falling debris, but no deaths? My nonchalant attitude prompted him to say, “No, this is serious.”

Without a TV, I used my computer to get the latest news, and the grim reality of airliners intentionally crashing into the World Trade Center, with an aftermath of death, falling and burning bodies, and crumpling buildings slowly sank in. To amplify my horror and concern one of my sons returned on the Tenth from leaving my other son in Manhattan to look for work, who knew, perhaps at the World Trade Center. Communication was difficult and we didn’t know where he was. Not until a day later did we know he was safe.

Like most Americans, I wanted swift and just action. For a time, it seemed as though it might happen, but slowly we became fearful, misdirected, and lost sight of our goals. A fog of confusion dimmed our clarity of purpose and denial set in.

Now, eight years later, I’ve retired, had a heart attack, started wintering in Florida, two of my children have graduated from college and started working. A crippling recession has caused declining wealth, unemployment, and homelessness. Ignorant pundits babble about health care for the sake of crippling a president, and incidentally a country. Celebrity misdeeds and death cry for our attention and crowd our airwaves. Young people die, but we barely acknowledge their sacrifice. 9/11, a day of terror, still stings the heart and mind of our countrymen and disunites our populace. 9/11, a day to remember, so that we can rightly and justly put it in the past. Meanwhile, wars smolder on the backburner of our concern.

Friday, September 4, 2009

September Calendar 2009


September Calendar 2009, originally uploaded by pappy65.

Early September and Labor Day weekend ushers in the end of Summer with hints of Fall. The weather has been beautiful and we've enjoyed backyard cookouts, tennis, and gatherings with friends. The shifting shadows of late Summer have brought cooler evenings and cheerful, sometimes foggy, mornings. There is peace in the air along with the bustlings of increased activities as school begins, vacations end, and the summer residents prepare to head South.