It was a beautiful day...

11 years ago today, I voted for the 1st time in my first major...primary election I think.  That morning is really sketchy for me because, to be quite honest, early-morning-September 11th may as well have happened on a different day or in a different universe.  It took a couple of days after the fact to even remember that I had voted at all.

But I digress.  The day started dark and chilly -- exactly what you'd expect early in September -- but turned into a truly gorgeous day.  By the time I got to school for my 8:30am class, people were already commenting about how lovely it was.  My Philosophy prof walked in late, as usual, and announced with something of a smile that a plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Centers.  Curious looks along with curious chatter abounded -- really? a plane? I bet that was funny looking -- and then class went on.

I didn't have class right after Philosophy...or at least I think I don't.  The moment I was outside, I knew something was wrong.  There were too many people on the quad, a relatively small space compared to quads in other schools I'm sure, and all the conversation was wrong, wrong, wrong.  It was nervous.  It was furtive.  There were lots of milling groups, too many of them looking unhappy for early-September.  My CD walkman (hey, it was 11 years ago!) had a radio feature, and so I turned it on.  And was looking...and looking...and looking.  I don't remember if my primary local news station is the one I picked up.  By the time I got to the building where my club was housed in the basement, I'd gotten something for sure.

They weren't biplanes that had crashed into the Towers.