There will be a lot on TV, radio and in the papers this weekend about the 10th anniversary of 9/11. There already has been. And it’s important. The memory of what happened that day cannot be erased, and the victims must be honored. Though for some of us, it feels presumptuous to make a big fuss over any anniversary of that dark day – as if 9/11 is something that’s actually over.
Amid all the talk about how we’ve changed in the past decade, essays about fear and ruminations on security, my favorite piece is actually this sound-and-photo essay from the NY Times about a way in which we’ve not changed. Ironworkers are building a new tower, and perhaps this is the most meaningful observance of the 9/11 anniversary – a bird’s eye view of Manhattan, as seen by blue collar heroes and a fearless photographer, perched on the top floor of an ambitious, unfinished construction project.
At one time or another, everyone has to force themselves to “not look down” in order to get the job done.
Examples?
Trail Baboon 
Rise and Shine Baboons!
All of you who are off to St. Peter, Rock Bend, have a fabulous time!
From Jan 2010 to May 2011 I had to go to work every day and not look down. Instead I had to focus on this moment, this step, and nothing else. After my business partner got herself in trouble then left, the business was on my shoulders alone. Not a time to look down. Instead, I could only do what I needed to do in the moment. On the high wire. Without a net. And I learned I could do it.
Thursday, September 22 from 4-7:00pm we are having an Open House to show off what we have done. Baboons are welcome. Please come. HPCA, 790 Cleveland Ave. S, #207, ST. Paul. You have all let me moan and groan during this time, and you tolerated it patiently. Now let me hand you a glass of wine and a bite to eat.
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There have been times I’ve wished I could avoid looking down. I can’t seem to stop myself. If the danger is there, I have to look at it, and put one foot in front of the other at the same time.
I feel lucky to have friends who have given me support and encouragement when I’ve needed it.
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I guess I am also a “look down” person, like Linda. Although I hate looking at these pictures from up on skyscrapers, in difficult situations the very first thing I do is try to imagine the worst possible outcome. I can’t think of a time when the worst possible outcome has been the prevailing scenario, so by the time I get through, I am almost always pleasantly surprised. And often relieved as well.
The biggie in my life, of course, was going to China to bring home the baby. I had no photo (a fuzzy fax that you couldn’t even make out the face), a health report written entirely in Chinese, a duffle bag the size of Arkansas and no idea what exactly to expect. Lots of doomsday possibilities ran through my head, so when the baby was sick and we had to visit the Chinese hospital and when the group paperwork got botched up and all the families spelled each other over two entire days at the oldest copier in the province, it just didn’t seem too tragic
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Good morning to all,
I have been through some difficult situations where I had to look down. I’ll skip over those hard times and go to actually learning to deal with altitude as part of a job I had. I knew a guy who needed a worker on his roofing crew. I was afraid of being up high and that included working on roofs. Never-the-less, I took the job.
On my first day I followed my boss up on a roof and was a little shakey. My boss went out across a steep part of the roof to show me it could be done. I didn’t follow him. After being on the job for a while I did learn that I could manage to go across similar steep places and I knew when it was necessary to put foot holds to work from on very steep roofs. I still don’t like high places, but I know my way around roofs and I can go up on them without any problems.
I never fell off a roof. My boss did. It is easy to step off the edge of a roof when not paying attention which is what happened to my boss. Also, you need to be aware of rotten places in roofs that could give way when you step on them.
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Afternoon–
Nice photo essay. Thanks for posting it Dale.
Attitude is 90% of any job. I’m really good at *starting* things…. it’s harder to *finish* them.
We have two different towers on our property, one is a cell phone tower, the other has misc antenna on it. Both are 280′ tall. Twenty odd years ago I was going to crawl to the top of one of them. Heck, 280′ isn’t that high. I got half way and then asked myself just what the heck I thought I was doing?!? One hundred forty feet is high enough. I took some pictures and crawled back down.
You gotta look down; that’s half the fun!
In regard to 9/11, I have no desire to see those photos again. Remember, yes, but I don’t want to see it again.
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Agreed. I will never, ever forget.
It saddens me that my child will never know what this country was like “before”. We talked about it at breakfast this morning before I dropped him off at church while I headed in to work.
Like you, Ben, I never want to see or hear any of that day again. Our flag went out this morning and will come back in tonight. We fly it out of respect for all the victims, American or not.
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Riding a horse in the ND Badlands when it is slippery from rain takes some nerves of steel, especially when the horse is on a narrow trail and either going up a steep hill or going down a steep hill. You know in your brain that these quarter horses are very nimble and sure footed, but when the muddy ground slips under their hooves you just keep looking up over their ears and not at the side of the hill that you might just fall off and tumble down if the horse slips enough. I don’t get to ride that often but it is a really nice way to see the wilderness out here.
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I am selective about heights – ladders are okay up to about 12 feet, more than that, and I get nervous fast. A-frames only, no extension ladders (they give me the willies). I will go higher if I am on something more solid like scaffolding. One scaffolding memory is from my college days: I was about 16 feet up (possibly higher – memory is dim) sitting on the edge of the scaffolding with my legs lopped over a 2×10 that was hanging, in part, by airline cable over a stage set. I was toe-nailing more 2x lumber into the 2×10 to make something that gave the appearance of roof framing. As I recall I was swinging a hammer for this endeavor – so true toe-nailing, not muscling it together with a screw gun. I do remember distinctly calling down to the designer and demanding to know if “real” carpenters had to hang out over nothingness like this – he assured me they did. I’m not convinced he was telling the truth. It was a little scary up there mostly because I had a good idea of what of me might break if I fell, especially since a heavy hammer, a bunch of nails and a smallish stack of lumber would likely join me on the fall…
OT, but back to yesterday’s/Friday’s topic: for those in the Twin Cities, the Edina Cinema on 50th Street is currently showing a film titled, “Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness.” Might have to take myself out to the movies soon…
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Anna, your description about how you might have landed when you were working up high on that set reminds me of a song played from time to time on the Morning Show. I don’t know the exact name of the song. I think it might be “Why Paddy is Not at Work Today”. That’s the song that features a buck full of bricks pulling Paddy this way and that and then falling on him.
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It could have been like that, writ slightly smaller. I would need to rewrite the lyrics to, “I hope you understand why Anna’s not in class today.”
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Yesterday was a good day at the Rock Bend festival. It was nice meeting several other Babooners and hearing some good music. Many thanks to Krista for her big effort contributing long hours of volunteer work to this festival and to other people in the St. Peter area for putting on this fesrtival.
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I concur completely. I’m going back today and the teenager is even coming with. Divers at 2 p.m.!
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I tried to never look down as a parent raising two young girls… that can be some scary s**t! Pulling THAT job off with no instruction manuals or guidelines… Are you kidding me? Now that they’ve grown into amazing women with children of their own, I think it’s safe to look down and enjoy the view!
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