A Sunny September Morning

Initially, I had planned to write about my memories of this morning 10 years ago today. But I decided that I would rather count my blessings."

I worked in Lower Manhattan for four years (1996-2000). Every week day, I took the Metro North train into Grand Central Terminal, walked across the concourse and went down into the subway and rode the Green Line (4/6) express to downtown. The twin towers dominated your view especially as you came out of the subway (see picture at left).

Dear God,

Thank you for all the good times that I had in towers, especially the many engineering society meetings.

Thank you for the enjoyable times I spent in the Borders Book store at the WTC.

Thank you for the job opportunities I had in the towers but didn't accept.

Thank you for the friends and colleagues that you kept safe 10 years ago. Several worked in or near the tower but got home okay.

Thank you for the chance to know Dick Klares and Mike Ferugio. They were good men and I am glad to have had the chance to rub shoulders with them. I won't forget them.

Thank you for the blue sky and the warm sun shine.

Thank you for my colleagues who are working at the construction site for the new tower. Please keep them safe.

Thank you God. Amen.

9-10-11 GO!

Another busy Saturday. Richard had a roller hockey game at 9 a.m., the first of the Fall session. Unfortunately, they lost 15-7. Please pray for their regular goalie: he has a pinched nerve in his back and may need surgery.

We had lunch at Boston Market; haven't been there for a while. Then we went to Sports Authority to get Richard a new (hockey) stick. We browsed through a Borders Bookstore located next door but did not succumb to the temptation to add more books to my clutter.

On our way out of Sports Authority, I saw a brochure for a nearby amusement park, Quassy. I have been trying to get there to ride their new (mini) wooden roller coaster, the Wooden Warrior. We have been there twice only to find that the coaster was not operating. So today, I called ahead.

If you look close, you can see the coaster (blue).

When I found out the coaster was running today, we changed our plans and headed there. We had a delightful time. Got all day pass for $17 each (a special). We rode the coaster 3X! You can see a point of view video on YouTube here. The ride is only a minute long but it is intense. As I anticipated, I enjoyed it a bit more each successive time.  The third time, I rode with Richard in the front car.

Richard and I also rode the Free Fall-n-drop "tower", Bumper Cars, Paratrooper (that made me dizzy), YoYo super swing (scarier than I expected because of the way it went up and down), and of course, the train. Richard also rode the Pirate ship, Music Fest (2X), and the drop "tower" (again) by himself.

Quassy is a nice little park by a lake. We didn 't have time to do the boat ride or rent a paddle boat. This park is my speed.

At the end of the day (6 p.m.), a B24 (WWII) bomber flew over the park, pretty low. So we tracked it down to a nearby airport but they were done flying for the day.

On the way home, we stopped for supper at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen near Mildale, CT. Richard had chicken, Cajun fries, biscuit; I had red beans and rice and corn-on-the-cob.