Everyone who lives on the North Shore realizes what a special place this is. Many of us who live here work two jobs or more to be here, far from the traffic, the lights, the fast pace of metro areas. Every day the backdrop to our lives is the world’s largest freshwater lake and the rugged tree-covered Sawtooth Mountain.
It’s not that I don’t like cities. It is fun to visit a city now and then. As folks that live in urban areas pack their belongings to visit our woods and waters, I like getting in the car and driving to a place with interesting buildings, unlimited dining options, movie theaters and more.
But I don’t want to live there. Even Duluth, which is one of the nicest cities in the world, with concerts and a playground at Bayfront Park, the aquarium with its otters, historic Enger Tower, Skyline Drive, and the wonderful lakewalk is too busy for me.
It is always nice to come home to the more peaceful North Shore.
I especially feel that way every year as 911— September 11—approaches. The people of New York City and Washington, D.C. have a very different backdrop to their lives. Those cities are bigger and busier than our port town of Duluth. And instead of our elegant birch trees and massive pines, towering buildings and brilliant skylines surround them.
I cannot imagine the fear and sadness of the people of those cities on that beautiful fall day 15 years ago – September 11, 2001.
Here on the North Shore, thousands of miles away, the hurt of the terrorist attack felt very real. Because of 24-hour, live televised news coverage, we watched the disaster unfold in shock and horror. For many days, the horrific sight of planes crashing into the magnificent Twin Towers, the focal point of the New York skyline, played over and over. For weeks, stories on network news were of the search for survivors and then the recovery of bodies. For months we heard stories of all the volunteers who traveled to Ground Zero in New York to help with the cleanup. Each year on September 11 we sadly pause and remember the victims of the murderous attack, especially on the milestone years—5 years, 10 years, and now 15.
On that horrible day and subsequent days, Americans came together and pledged to never forget. Flags hung on porches and waved from cars. A cousin and I traveled to Forest Lake and on almost every highway overpass, a flag had been hung.
It is disappointing that the feelings of patriotism brought to the surface by the terrorist attack have faded. It is sad that the feeling of unity has all but disappeared. We were determined to stand strong together then. We were all Americans.
Now it seems that our country is more divided than ever.
It is good that we pause on September 11 to remember, to think about and pray for the people of New York and Washington, D.C. I hope that those city residents have come to once again appreciate their surroundings. I hope they can look at the Pentagon or the space where once the Twin Towers stood without too much pain.
Here on the North Shore we are truly fortunate that our landscape brings us peace. In times of melancholy, we can take a walk along the shore of Lake Superior. We can hike the Sawtooth Mountain ridgeline. We can get out on the still waters of an inland lake. We can almost forget that there is such evil in the world.
But on September 11, we should remember. We should do something to fight that evil. We should try to bring back the feeling of unity we once had. We should reach out to someone with political differences and have a quiet conversation. We should plant a tree or make a donation to a charity in the memory of those who were killed. We should hug our friends and family. We should simply be kind.
If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we
learn that life is short and there is no time for
hate.
Sandy Dahl,
wife of pilot of Flight 93 Jason Dahl
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