It was sprinkling on and off. William got inventive with his kids' meal bag and made a rain hat.
We weren't there too long, when the first balloon started filling up
Daddy and William with just a few balloons early on
Pretty balloons, all in a row!
Once it is totally dark, the balloons are very beautiful. I especially love the ones with geometric patterns.
Mama and William ( I promise Amelia was with us. She just wasn't being as...cooperative about taking pictures)
Pretty balloon
This one might be my favorite this year...gorgeous stripes. Makes me want to pull out my fabric and start sewing...hmm.....
In the same area as the balloon glow event was a Sept. 11th Memorial. None of our pictures really do it justice, but this was pretty amazing.
This hill was totally covered with flags. There is one flag for every person who died on September 11th during the terrorist attacks.
Blurry, but beautiful
So many flags. So many we couldn't make them fit in one picture.
September 11th changed so much for me. This was a defining moment for a lot of people and I'm not really any different than anyone else. However, that day I did a lot of growing up. I was student teaching that day. I was just starting to take over small responsibilities within the classroom. That day I was going to be leading the breakfast discussion. The students came back from the cafeteria with their trays and we watched the morning news together as usual. Together, we watched the second plane hit the towers live. It was that moment. That very moment that I grew and changed. All twenty six faces looked to me for an explanation and I didn't have an answer. Together, we all looked toward the lead teacher. He didn't have answers either. I will never forget the realization that students would daily looking to me for answers on all types of matters, including terrible and difficult things AND I WOULDN'T KNOW the answers.
There were so many other stressful pieces of that day. Immediately after we watched the plane hit the tower, we were told TV's had to stay off during the day. Students were not to receive information about this event from us. It left the adults starved for information and whispering updates to each other while passing in the hall. A student from war stricken Ghana asked if we were going to have fighting here now, too.
John was living across the county and unavailable to me. My parents, an hour away. At that moment, I wanted all my family in a room together so I could wrap myself up in their comforting presence. But, that was not possible. So I sat home alone in my little apartment and ate my frozen dinner while watching the horrifying images from earlier in the day.
Late that evening or early the next day, a list of passengers on the airplanes would reveal another piece: a high school classmate on the second plane. The one I watched with my students. I'm not going to make more of this than what it is. Someone, an acquittance more than a friend was on one of those planes.
I was sad about her death in the days that followed September 11th. Every year since, I've taken small moments to remember her and say a prayer for her. This year it feels particularly unfair as I look around at what my life has been filled with: love, husband, children, home, and a job I love. All these are things my friend will never experience because she didn't have the opportunity. And that just doesn't seem fair. Visiting this memorial on the 10 year anniversary felt like an appropriate memorial to her.
September 11th changed so much for me. This was a defining moment for a lot of people and I'm not really any different than anyone else. However, that day I did a lot of growing up. I was student teaching that day. I was just starting to take over small responsibilities within the classroom. That day I was going to be leading the breakfast discussion. The students came back from the cafeteria with their trays and we watched the morning news together as usual. Together, we watched the second plane hit the towers live. It was that moment. That very moment that I grew and changed. All twenty six faces looked to me for an explanation and I didn't have an answer. Together, we all looked toward the lead teacher. He didn't have answers either. I will never forget the realization that students would daily looking to me for answers on all types of matters, including terrible and difficult things AND I WOULDN'T KNOW the answers.
There were so many other stressful pieces of that day. Immediately after we watched the plane hit the tower, we were told TV's had to stay off during the day. Students were not to receive information about this event from us. It left the adults starved for information and whispering updates to each other while passing in the hall. A student from war stricken Ghana asked if we were going to have fighting here now, too.
John was living across the county and unavailable to me. My parents, an hour away. At that moment, I wanted all my family in a room together so I could wrap myself up in their comforting presence. But, that was not possible. So I sat home alone in my little apartment and ate my frozen dinner while watching the horrifying images from earlier in the day.
Late that evening or early the next day, a list of passengers on the airplanes would reveal another piece: a high school classmate on the second plane. The one I watched with my students. I'm not going to make more of this than what it is. Someone, an acquittance more than a friend was on one of those planes.
I was sad about her death in the days that followed September 11th. Every year since, I've taken small moments to remember her and say a prayer for her. This year it feels particularly unfair as I look around at what my life has been filled with: love, husband, children, home, and a job I love. All these are things my friend will never experience because she didn't have the opportunity. And that just doesn't seem fair. Visiting this memorial on the 10 year anniversary felt like an appropriate memorial to her.
The balloon pictures are beautiful! I love hot air balloons. :)
ReplyDeleteThe memorial about September 11th is nice as well. It was a very tragic day and being that the friend was mutual, I know the hurt. The pictures of the memorial make it look like it was absolutely breath taking.
Love hot air balloons too! I saw on PBS this hot air balloon festival down in Arizona that I would love to go to someday. They have balloon events like racing and a balloon glow of interesting shaped balloons among many other events. Balloonists from all over the world come to this week long festival.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Andrea