Apologia: I promise not to turn Deckchairs into a discussion of the World Trade Center and its loss. However:
I made my very first pilgrimage to the World Trade Center (anyone have suggestions for what to call it now) this morning. Although I can smell the remains of the site burning every day from my office, it was only today that I felt the need to pay my respects. It is a graveyard in my backyard and I humbly submit these words to you. I also unwittingly took a number of photographs, and I’ll put these up tonight for your perusal. In the meantime, look at this very amazing site — it features thousands of photos of beautiful New York City.
Everyone asks me how close you can get. Well, you can get close enough to realize that the Borders bookstore that you may have frequented is a burned out black shell and the wreckage of the towers above lay everywhere. The thing that surprised me most was the damage done to all of the businesses within 8 blocks of the WTC. So many stores, companies, vendors — all closed down for an indeterminate amount of time. It’s virtually a ghost town surrounding the entire area.
In other news, here’s a plug for a very nice art site. Worth your attention. There are not enough of these.