Ground Zero

Two years ago when I came to NYC, I wanted to see the WTC site. I'm not sure why. I don't typically need or want to see disaster or memorial sites. But some I do. I suppose if the disaster or tragedy feels like my own personal tragedy -- whether or not it is shared by millions of others -- then just being at the site is cathartic in some way.

But when I went to the WTC site in 2008, I saw construction cranes. That was it. The viewing experience was not cathartic. It was not sad. I was simply looking at a construction site.

I went back there a couple of days ago, and I must report that the cranes are still there. If I were from Mars, I might think that the crazy inscrutable earthlings put cranes on the memorial site for some profound reason that I couldn't understand. After all, there are always hordes of people around the construction site taking pictures from every angle.

But I'm not from Mars, and I know better. I know what the memorial is supposed to look like, including the mirrored pools in the footprints of the old buildings. I think the theme "Reflecting Absence" is entirely appropriate. So now I'm just feeling impatient, and still waiting for my catharsis.