...so I was going to sleep in, but some jerk decided to call a couple of
times at 6am and wake me up. Figuring that nothing could be that urgent at 6am,
I ignored it and went back to sleep for an hour before waking up for good at
7am. It was a beautifully sunny day, as I remember, and I went in to the study
to find out who the rude caller was. As I stood looking at the sun coming up over the
Cascade mountains, I listened to the message. It was from my dad, calling to say
that he was in Washington and that he was OK in regards to the terrorist attacks
on World Trade Center and the Pentagon. However, he couldn't get through to my
mom in North Carolina because the lines were all jammed - could I call her and
let her know he was OK?
I remember thinking, "What? What is he talking about?" I went downstairs,
turned on the TV and flipped to CNN. I think I spent the next few minutes just sitting there
saying "Oh my God..." over and over again. I woke up my wife Andrea and let her
know what happened. We spent a while making sure her mother, who was also in
Washington that day working for the State Department, was OK. Then we just went
ahead with what she was planning to do that day - we went down to the Pike Place
Market to buy food. It was a nice day, sunny and warm, and there was a surreal
calmness everywhere. Andrea spent the rest of the day cooking food for the rest
of the month and we both just watched TV, trying to take it all in.