Story 11Sep2022: September 11 Remembered

One of my memory of the events of September 11th was standing outside on the soccer field a few days later with a choir singing at Nike World Headquarters.  We listened to Phil Knight, then CEO, trying to speak and make sense of it all. The pain was helped by all of us coming together, and Phil announced that we would run across the country because that is what we do at Nike; we run. It helped. As did seeing Queen Elizabeth having the Star Spangled Banner played in the UK. Just some memories for today.

The morning started with me sleeping in until 7ish and then getting going. I was in some discomfort and was in the bathroom for some time. Unfortunately, that problem repeated not in the bathroom. This was combined with breathing issues, there is worse air today, and a headache. Ugh! Not a good start.

I decide to work on my Naval Institute fiction story first. I spent a few hours inside my head reworking my first draft and cutting as I needed only 3,000 words. I have polished and added an Epilogue that completes the story. I have mostly smoothed out the text and removed fundamental grammar issues. I am more interested in the flow than the perfect grammar.

That led me to the blog, and I did feel like I was writing all day. I then felt unwell and went to rest for a bit. I did sleep for a bit. I felt a bit better and went back to the blog wanting to finish it.

I ordered lunch from Gyro House, a fav from GrubHub, and had the lamb kebab platter. I go with protean and lamb if I can get it when I feel off. Lunch helped. I finished watching, putting the blog aside, The Rings of Power, episode 3 while eating lunch. The break and food helped, and I could return to the blog and finish.

I did forget that Mariah had suggested lunch on Sunday, but she was OK with pushing that off.

After the blog was posted and emailed to folks, I dressed and headed to hummingbird house. The air is worse, and I was coughing and sneezing in Air Volvo, which has new filters (recently serviced, and these cabin filters were replaced). I crossed Beverton without incident.

Susie’s place is in Tigard, and their air is better; you can see less gray there. Susie was tired and bundled up in her chair. She had passed on lunch. Susie’s eyes were puffy and watery, and she decided, unusual for her, to forgo watching a show and just sleep in her bed.

A thunderstorm rained at about the same time, a surprise, and the beginning of the rains is always welcome. The air should be better, and we need rain, and of course, the firefighters will welcome the rain, but not the lightning strikes.

I kissed Susie goodbye and drove back to the Volvo Cave. The air getting worse and worse. The traffic was almost as heavy as a workday. I also saw many police cars in Beaverton and left my phone in my pocket.

I just pulled up the covers at the house, like Susie in Tigard, and slept. I was worn out. I had nightmares last night and in a waking dream in the morning. I was finally able to sleep without waking with a pounding heart.

I decided to head to Central Taps in Beaverton to play the solo board game Nemo’s War. The air was a bit better with the rain in the area, and I could use some human interactions. So I managed to play a partial game, but I could not focus. I had a stout beer that went well with the game. I could imagine the Hollywood version of Nemo with a tankard of dark beer–no IPA for Nemo! Something dark and brooding with subtle, complex flavors. I put the game away as I was daydreaming too much.

After paying, I headed back to Air Volvo. My luck almost ran out. Five, yes five, cars decided to brake shortly for someone turning off of TV Highway. Air Volvo had alarms going off, the polite trolly car bell warning that braking was about to happen. I thew the car into the bike lane and shoulder, braking, and avoid scratching the paint. I also avoided the rear-end paint loss as I saw the vehicle behind me was now where Air Volvo was a moment ago.

I arrived intact in Air Volvo at the house, getting a hot fudge sundae from McDonald’s on the way. I then started on the blog and will try to start more work on the other writing after the blog.

I hope your memories of September 11 are positive. For me, they are sad but positive. I did not lose anyone in the attacks, but friends of mine did.

Thanks for reading.