912 Empty Sky

September 12, 2001 -

The office was just north of the landing approach path at Ontario International Airport.

Located in the IE, it was a 'hub' for Southwest. The sight of those big planes coming in, it seemed like every 15 minutes, was routine.

Of course, that day, nothing was routine.

The world had frozen in place.

But for others, time accelerated and compressed.

One of my co-worker's husband . I attended their wedding few weeks before.

One of my coworkers, whose wedding I had attended just a few weeks prior, was called into his office. He was an FBI agent, and I vividly remembered his colleagues, all armed and dressed in their finest, celebrating at the wedding.

He was being sent to Paris.

Of all the things that struck me, this slight hit just as hard. We, the United States of America, were sending Everything and Everyone after this...even our nation's best cops.

I stayed at the office for about 40 minutes, gazing out at the 10 - desolate.

No sound, no shadows, no jet airliners.

Empty Sky.

* I know it's 15 minutes long, 11 minutes beyond the current attention span.  

The time between Tower 1 and Tower 2 being struck was about 17 minutes.  

Bruce recorded this session in July of 2002.

It's worth the time, the best things are.