Unsettling

I thought it would be okay, sleeping in the hotel across from the WTC. Even with the view of Ground Zero, for you can also see the World Financial Center and the Hudson River beyond. It is a great hotel (complete with swimming pool, a rarity in Manhattan), and I was able to go for a run down the Battery, some of the most beautiful real estate anywhere. (There was a torrential downpour, but it was warm and kinda nice, actually.) I have seen and been involved in what has been going on there since that day, and really thought it just wouldn’t matter to me. But settling in to sleep was a little tricky, as unwanted thoughts of what happened just across the street (and to that hotel itself) kept creeping into mind. It was not made easier by a sudden serious of booms in the late evening — sounds I chose to ignore at first but eventually had to investigate, and which turned out to be fireworks somewhere down river, on the 6th of July. (Very odd, but eventually I learned they were at the Statue of Liberty, celebrating the premiere of the Fantastic Four movie, of all things.)

And then I woke in the morning and, as I only do in hotels, turned on the news, instantly faced with an obviously shaken Tony Blair and the chaos of the media reporting on something without any of the facts, just enough info to be scary. Downstairs, literally dozens of police cars were lined up in front of Ground Zero, lights flashing, as police guarded the PATH station and the subway lines. A most unsettling thing to wake up to, in that particular place. Then we had to just go about our day, waiting and wondering if there was to be more.