So...whats for dinner?

lacey - thanks for the positive thoughts about my in-laws house and hopeful closing next week. The coastal county the house is located in is under mandatory evac, but it appears that the storm's target is slightly more northern than initially thought so maybe it will be spared. I have come to a place of acceptance in terms of what may happen - glad my DH and SILs emptied the house of all contents, so it is just the house itself in danger. I have all the family photos on my kitchen table right now - dividing them up for everyone. I too remember 9/11/2001 like it was yesterday - a beautiful sunny day in northern Virginia, my DH at work in the Pentagon - I spoke to him on the phone after the planes hit in NY and then again briefly after the Pentagon was hit, then nothing for 6 hours. I was not sure that he got out until later that afternoon. A number of those in our neighborhood of federal workers - military and civilian - were injured - our two doors down neighbor burned severely, two neighbors were killed, one of them lived four doors down the other direction. A bunch of us met in the middle of our street - counting noses - when Air Force One floated over in the quiet skies with a fighter jet contingent escorting. Such a terrible time for all of us, haunting memories for sure. My son was in 8th grade, became a volunteer firefighter when he was a senior in high school, and when he left for his freshman year in college he got a tattoo - against my wishes. It is in the middle of his upper back - a red/white/blue fire helmet, inside a pentagon shape, with the 9/11 insignia above the helmet with the Twin Towers as the 11 part. Can't really object, right?

Right, Special! Sounds to me like a truly heartfelt, valid reason for DS to get his tattoo...and yes, as a non tattoo fan, I would unable to say “no” to this either! Thank you for sharing that poignant account of your experience on 9/11...what a painful piece of history for your family and entire neighborhood community. It leaves me reflecting on how many surviving families carry varying sizes of scars related to the attacks on that terrible day.

For our salad tonight, we had a caprese salad over romaine to which I added some of my still hearty scapes! Nice and tasty! The basil was from a plant I literally popped into the ground before we left for the summer. That abandoned basil thrived beautifully on its own all summer, (well, it probably did get the edges of water DH left hadset up for the lawn) and now we have a lovely yield. Am guessing our rabbits do not prefer basil leaves!

Well Heidi sounds just like Esmerelda. So it must be normal. Esmerelda's never had kittens either. It is a bedtime ritual or anytime I crash on the sofa. So I guess I won't worry too much about it. Vet told me there is something called "Feli-way" that is a spray or you can put it in a diffuser. Supposed to calm cats. Havne't looked for it yet. Sometimes Esmerelda meow's and meows in the house-she never did it till I moved to this larger home. The previous owner had a little dog named Napoleon. I don't know if Napoleon died in the house but sometimes I wonder if she is seeing ghosts and talking to them.

A little boy for whom I was a jr. counselor at day camp--he was a guitar prodigy who taught me some barre chords, and I helped him with reading--grew up to work in one of the towers, and was killed on 9/11. I found this out a year later, when they were reciting the names at what was still Ground Zero, and I recognized his instantly--it's not a common surname. The NYTimes had a section of tributes to each of the victims--and when I saw the photo, even with the receding hairline & mustache, I knew it was him. When his fiancee described how much he loved playing reggae & blues guitar, that clinched it.

On the morning of 9/11:

We had been using our first HDTV as a giant alarm clock. The Today show was on, and they were discussing Michael Jordan's return to basketball, so I pulled out my earplugs and sat up to watch. Suddenly, they cut to a woman in the street saying "I think it was a small plane..." Then a sickening shot of the North tower in flames, and then every reporter on the network came on. As the coverage went on, I saw the second plane appear, cross the screen, and hit the South tower. I called my boss and told him I wasn't going to the status call we had scheduled at court at the Daley Center--I said I was pretty sure that court would be cancelled that morning. Turns out they evacuated the building and even the CTA elevated trains stopped running.

I called my sister in Arlington, VA--we'd grown up in Brooklyn and watched the WTC's foundations being dug. We'd gathered in NYC each year and had family holiday brunches at Windows on the World. We were talking when there was this rumbling noise in the background. "Hold on," she said, "there's a plane flying really low and I can't hear you." Less than a couple minutes later, NBC cut to the DC feed and reported an explosion at the Pentagon. My sister said she had to go retrieve my niece from kindergarten--she had several classmates whose parents worked at the Pentagon. (Miraculously, none of them were there that day). Her house is in a direct line between Dulles & Reagan.

My friend who worked at a suburban weekly paper called--their newsroom had only a B&W antenna TV; could I fill her in on what was happening? I described what I was seeing--and it looked like the South tower was bending. The commentators noted that and said it must be an optical illusion. Just then, the tower collapsed.

The school sec'y at Gordy's school called to say that classes were being dismissed early--could I pick some of Gordy's friends up and take them home until their folks got home from work? We all piled into our Taurus and I turned on the radio to the rock station we always listened to (WXRT). All the DJs were on the air, not playing music but instead discussing the day's events and taking live calls from anyone who wanted to talk.

Four days later I had a show scheduled in Madison, WI. UW had cancelled all events for the weekend. I called the coffeehouse and asked if the show was still on. "We need music more than ever," came the reply. I drove up I-90, underneath a blue sky empty of anything but a few birds--we were so used to no air traffic by then that every bird at first looked ominous till we realized they were alive.

Can't say I "enjoyed" the personal experiences of 9/11 but I appreciate the sharing. I was in a waiting room at a medical clinic waiting to be called for blood work when the news came on a little tv in the room.

I hope Florence isn't as devastating as possible and probable. September is a bad hurricane month. The doubters of the science behind climate change can continue doubting, all to no good effect.

Tonight's dinner will be the menu that didn't happen for last night. I returned home from women's golf at 5 pm, walked into the camper summer home and heard ice cubes clinking in glasses. Immediately I knew, broasted chicken from Clancy's restaurant for dinner. So tonight will be baby back ribs with salad and a veggie side, maybe corn cut off the cob.

Thinking about Florence and I agree with Carol. Today is the anniversary of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Although I didn't have any flooding in my house, we were without power for 3 weeks. And then Harvey last year when the storm stalled and the rain just kept coming.

Brunch will be leftover ham hock & beans. Dinner will likely be a salad, but maybe a couple more of those wild caught Cod fillets. They were really good.

Eric, I just started my job at TxDOT a few months before Ike hit, I helped write and issue the contracts to replace all those signs, fix the traffic signals and remove debris. We were still dealing with the financial stuff several years later, same with Harvey.

For 9/11, DH and were at a hotel in Phoenix on our way back to Texas from visiting family in California. We were packing to leave and watching the news for local traffic. When the first plan hit, DH said “that doesn’t just happen, they’ll say it was terrorists” and when the 2nd hit, we knew this was something major. It was so strange to see the sky so empty for the remainder of the trip. Eerie.

Homemade chicken soup and a salad tonight.

On 8/11, my sister, daughter & I were admiring the imposing view of the Towers and NYC skyline from the Staten Island Ferry. On 9/11, a known prankster in our office (Airport Board, operators of CVG Airport) ran in, stating a plane had just hit one of the Twin Towers. I asked if he was pranking us & he said no. We all rushed to the lunch room to watch the TV coverage. Talking to one of our engineers, I remarked the hit tower would not survive & he agreed. Airplane fuel burns much hotter, as we both knew. Then, plane 2 struck the other tower & we both agreed it, too, would crumble. The skies began to empty and aircraft were landing & parking wherever space was available. It was creepy/scary. After the Pentagon was hit, the 4th plane crashed in PA & the towers fell, the office closed & most employees headed for home. Many employees were crying, even though they did not have a "connection" to anyone there. Unbelievably, my daughter's school was not dismissed early. When she saw the TV coverage, it was very impactful since we had been in NYC a month earlier. Eerily quiet at the Airport for 2 days afterward - no aircraft in or out. My cousin, working for NY/NJ Port Authority was one of the people running for their life. I remember visiting the Merrill Lynch office in the towers in the 80s when a good friend worked there. My sister was working in nearby CT & they had several associates who were in the City that day - they all were ok. I hope we never experience another event like 9/11.

Our office was busy today assembling & provisioning staff that could potentially be deployed to assist Airports affected by Florence. We will likely send some of our firefighters who are also either EMTs or Paramedics. plus various maintenance staff.

Eric - Take care of yourself & thanks for your service.

McCormick's Poultry Seasoning was my mom's old standby as a chicken rub, and I still use it. Penzey's also makes a good one--Fox Point; they also have a Poultry Blend, and Sunny Paris for those wanting to stay salt-free.

Dinner tonight was a brisket end from the kosher Meal Mart counter at Jewel (yay--they had chopped liver tonight!). nuked tzimmes, and Jerusalem salad with chickpeas, mixed with tahini & lemon juice. Found a small raisin challah, which we'll have with a Pink Lady apple & honey for a late dessert.

A disaster is always going to have a ragged response....a disaster is when the response needs overwhelm the response capabilities..so we do what we can and always wish we could do more.

Right now we are in the normal waiting mode. We won't know where we are needed until the hospitals report on their conditions and their needs...and that can't happen until after the storm hits.

9/11... So the east coast phone workers could get home, I was one of many people out west that were remotelying and controlling a lot of the long distance and local phone switching centers on the east coast.

We knew keeping the phone system running was important. We never did decide if the government calls or the "I'm OK" calls were the most important.

Tonight will be hot dogs and chili and sliced tomatoes with stilton blue cheese and basil.

Beans cooked with ham sounds really appetizing. Not to mention cornbread. Aside from baked beans and beans in chili, we haven't had beans all summer.

Tonight was a pan seared tuna steak (unfortunately over cooked) with asparagus and garlic bread.

Dinner was the Mexican (Baja) wine dinner at Mas Alla Del Sol. The wines were delicious but insanely expensive, so we didn't order any (I don't think they sold much). The food was excellent.

First course: grilled lobster & octopus, aijillo, pickled red onions, cucumbers, atop a fried green tomato.

Second: Roasted ground-beef-stuffed poblano chile with crema and pomegranate seeds (an homage to the Mexican flag to celebrate its Independence Day).

Third: Rack of lamb (two double chops) over corn mash (like a fresh polenta with kernels), charred tomato, microgreens

Fourth: Carne Asada (skirt steak) in a chile morita sauce, with cannelini beans, queso panela ("bread cheese," sort of like Brun Juusto. which is meant for grilling), avocado

Dessert: pineapple-coconut tres leches cake topped with mint leaves, cherry, and vanilla-mezcal-soaked pineapple.

Burp.

Going to make something light and easy to cook.

At one hurricane, the road crews had cleaned up about 10 miles of interstate highway and temporarily piled the roadway debris up in a large parking lot .

The news people were all doing their stories with the piled up debris as the background....saying this was how deep the debris was and that the crews had been working it for many hours.

They forgot to mention that this was where they were PUTTING the stuff.