The Sky Was Crying

It hasn't rained here in nearly two months. There have been several teasers. The way the sky looked, the way the air felt, the way the wind was blowing you were certain rain was imminent. But it wasn't. Until last night.

My wife and I headed down to the Linden Hills 911 Tribute at the Lake Harriet Bandshell. Events commenced at 7pm so we arrived just before 6pm to get in a walk around the lake. It began raining right about the time we started walking and by the time we settled into seats for the tribute we were drenched.

Despite the rain there was a decent crowd on hand (if I was an anti-war protester I would tell the media 20,000-in reality there were probably 300) and the tribute itself was well done. I had reservations beforehand given the political inclinations of the neighborhood but my fears of a kumbaya singing, diversity praising, visualizing world peace gathering were put to rest immediately as a color guard presented the flag and the crowd joined in to sing the national anthem.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and America the Beautiful and God Bless America were performed as well. The rest of the program consisted of a variety of musical styles including folk, Dixieland jazz, classical, and even a John Philip Sousa march all performed by the volunteer tribute orchestra. It was a well conceived mix of patriotic songs interspersed with somber reflective pieces including Christine's Lullaby dedicated to Christine Lee Hanson, the youngest victim of the 9/11 attacks. The Minnesota Pipes and Drums bagpipers (I didn't see Mitch) performed Amazing Grace which brings a lump in the throat to even the most hardened of men.




Lake Harriet is in the flight path for the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and hearing and seeing the planes overhead, along with the pouring rain helped set the right atmosphere for the event. Airliners were the story of 9/11 so it was fitting that they were part of the tribute as well.

My only quibble was with the finish. After the crowd joined in to sing God Bless America there was a short pyrotechnics display. It just wasn't right. 9/11 isn't the Fourth of July. There isn't anything to celebrate about it.

It's hard to blame the organizers though, since it seems like many of us have a hard time getting a handle on what the day means and how we should behave on it. My emotions ran the gamut yesterday and I was never quite sure how I would or should feel five minutes later. It was (and will be) a tough day and in the late afternoon I came to same conclusion that Lileks did about it:

At some point you just tire of putting it all in solemn, respectful terms, and you think: this day just sucks and it's always going to suck.