22 Years of 9/11

Yesterday was 9/11. It was the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

As the tragedy of that day recedes farther into the rear view mirror of history it seems like a gradually less important anniversary. And that's a good thing.

Part of the reason it's becoming less significant is that there are fewer things today to associate it with. Slightly fewer things, anyway. There's no more War in Iraq or War in Afghanistan. The latter the US wound down two years ago... and Afghanistan's weak government promptly conceded to the Taliban, the murderous, misogynistic regime we spent 20 years and trillions of dollars fighting to defeat. Oops. Well, at least we're not putting US soldiers in harm's way anymore.

Speaking of US soldiers, the lead in a lot of news stories the past few days has been that young men and women enrolling in the military these days weren't even alive when 9/11 happened. We're 22 years on from it now; most recruits are 18-19.

A common narrative in these stories is that the recruits are no longer motivated by revenge. The recruits of several years ago remembered 9/11 as it happened. They saw it on TV, live. They joined the military with the expectation that they'd go to war and get to punish the perpetrators. Or at least punish the people who grew up in the country where a small insurgent power temporarily sheltered the wealthy guy who paid the perpetrators, most of whom were from a country the US political right cozies up to while blaming other countries.

The fact that military recruits today are part of the post-9/11 generation reminds me of how schoolkids for the past several years have all been part of the post-Columbine generation. For several years kids growing up have only known both a world that was always turned upside by 9/11 and the reactions to it, as well as the way the experience of attending school in the US has been irrevocably altered by frequent school shootings. In the latter case, young people today have something to say about it. ...And that something is, increasingly, "Enough!" Meanwhile, what's being said about 9/11? I don't think there's a reaction coalescing around it, except maybe for worn-out resignation.

Back Down Fall Creek Trail to the Lower Falls

North Cascades Travelog #14
Okanogan National Forest, WA - Mon, 4 Sep 2023, 12pm.

I didn't expect this one trail hike to stretch to 3 blogs especially because it's not even that long, but here we are. There's just been so much beauty to share.



After we reached near the top of the Falls Creek trail and had seen several waterfalls on the way up (previous blog) we turned around to go back down. As hard as the steep uphill stretches were on the way up, we ate up the distance quickly on the descent. It seemed like we were back down to flatland in 5 minutes. (I think it was actually 15 minutes.)



Before going all the way out to the trailhead, though, we stopped back at the first falls. On the way past them the first time we'd noticed a perch we could scramble up to to be right next to the falls. We skipped that on the way up, figuring we'd hit it on the way back after seeing everything else. Plus, the scramble up to it was really steep. Well, after seeing how steep the rest of the trail was, we were like, pfft, let's just do it.

It was fun to stand up next to the falls. The wind wasn't blowing, so spray wasn't much of a problem. The sun dodging behind clouds was a problem, though. It was dim. But as I noted a few blogs ago, dim light is something of a secret boon to waterfalls photography. Not only I was able to get lots of motion-blur photos of the water using my neutral density filter but the scene took on an eerie color cast. On the downside I hadn't carried my tripod on this hike, so I had to capture these slow exposures free-hand, relying on the camera lens's image stabilization system to avert excessive blurring from camera motion. Not all the shots I took are keepers (I shot a lot) but I'm happy overall with the results.

Trade Show Day 0: I Left Early

Among my many work tasks this week is staffing a small trade show nearby. The main part of the show is tomorrow and it's just 1 day. Today was "Partner Day" with presentations and workshops for companies that pair with them. I went to learn more about their offerings, their ecosystem, and how we can work better together. I also went to finish our booth setup so that it'd be ready for an early start (7:30am!) tomorrow.

Long story short, although things got off to a good start they started going south not long after. The good part was the first ~30 minutes I was there. I met partner coordinators I'd only email with up to that point, reconnected f2f with other partners I haven't seen f2f in a long time, and even recorded an upbeat partner interview for the trade show host.

The downside came when I checked with colleagues when they'd be arriving. Two had found last-minute reasons to bow out. A third was likely to no-show, as well. (It's his MO.) And the booth setup— which is normally not my responsibility but I volunteered for, because I step up to support the company's broader mission— took way longer than planned. The show ran until 6pm, including a social hour at the end, but by 3pm I was just done and left.

Why did I skeeve off? Well, as I decided at the trade show I staffed two weeks ago, Why should I take it seriously when nobody else does? And today was just partnership stuff— which our partnership manager already ditched doing (one of the last-minute no-shows I mentioned above). Why should I bust my butt when everyone else is phoning it in or, worse, opting out entirely.

Could I have stayed at the show? Sure. But it was no longer clear what the value would be, as the whole rest of my team had abandoned the mission for the day. And while I skeeved off the trade show for the rest of the day I did not skeeve off work for the day. I worked from my desk at home the rest of the afternoon.