 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jas,the clarinerd from Canada
Date: 2001-09-15 02:30
(This is not likely the appropriate billboard, so Mark, please forgive me. I have been quietly observing (and occasionally asking questions) on sneezy for well over a year. With Mark's permission, I would like to respond to Ken's "Report from NYC" with this message to all of my sneezy friends).
I have been searching for solitude in my clarinet a lot lately. Not really practicing anything... just playing.... focusing on the pleasant sound in my ears, hoping that it will temporarily wash away the images left in my eyes. It does, occasionally. But my heart is still heavy with the concrete and steel that fell in New York on Tuesday. I am Canadian... but not too distant to feel the anguish. It has touched us all in ways we've never seen before.
I have always felt close to Americans, but never before have I felt closer to you than I do now. Never before have I witnessed the love and caring from nation to nation to nation, here and around the world. I am overwhelmed by the pain you suffer and overwhelmed by the quite resilience of your Nation and its friends.
No.... I cannot fathom the power of the WTC collapse. But what I saw Tuesday, live via the media, brought me literally to tears... alone, in my office at home with my hands to my mouth and repeatedly whispering, "ohmyGodohmyGodohmyGod".
Although I cannot comprehend the physical power of the collapse, I do feel legitimate pain and sorrow. Like many of us, I have wept repeatedly since Tuesday. At almost every image, every story.
I weep now. As do other Canadians. I want you to know this... this afternoon, on Parliament Hill (the equivalent to your Capital Hill and White House), over 75 thousand people crowded the front lawn of our government building in remembrance of your friends who fell by the hands of despicable cowards. Millions more watched on television and participated in 3-minutes of silence and quite prayer. It was a collective tear... a mass hug.... For you, our friends. Our Prime Minister announced our support. Similar events took place ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
If any good can come from this tragedy it is just that. It is in the world coming together not only to share your pain, but also to support you and each other in a common love for democracy and freedom. It is what America stands for. And it is because of America that many other countries bask in it. This is not forgotten.
You are in my every prayer. God bless.
Jas
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-09-15 12:48
Jas -
Thanks a lot. I couldn't touch my clarinet for several days. Mostly I slept. I have it out today and am getting some consolation. A day at a time for now.
Ken Shaw
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Author: ~jerry
Date: 2001-09-15 13:24
Beautifully written, Jas. Thank you for caring and sharing. And, thanks to the people of all other nations who embrace this feeling.
Thank you.
~ jerry
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Author: Dan
Date: 2001-09-15 20:20
Jas, Thank you. I live in southwest Connecticut (about 40miles from NYC) and have done more crying in the last few days than I've done in a long, long time. Like Ken, I haven't been able to play since 9/11. It's getting to the point that it's hard to turn the TV on. I know life will slowly return to normal for me. But, I must say, that I'm finding it very hard. Thank you for caring and for sharing your feelings. Dan
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Author: Eileen
Date: 2001-09-15 21:41
Thank you for your eloquent message. May you play your clarinet with all of the passion with which you write.
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Author: Ken
Date: 2001-09-15 22:31
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times . . .(a few personal thoughts I feel I must share with my Sneezy friends and fellow clarinetists)
Like most of the civilized world, I have been horrified, shocked and enraged by what happened on US soil last Tuesday morning. The images of airplanes flying into buildings, tons of rubble collapsing on bystanders, destitute victims hurling themselves to their deaths or being pushed out of windows, the US nation's defense headquarters under assault, all engender terrible feelings that I'm hard-pressed to put into words and almost beyond imagination.
But there have been other images in the past two days that as an "American" have filled me with great pride and hope. I was overwhelmed when I saw New York streets lined with citizens, cheering on the rescue workers. I was touched when I saw a white NY policeman quietly comforting a dust-caked, distraught black woman. And I'm filled with gratitude every time I see the hoards of life-giving firemen and construction workers grappling with the tons of rubble in a desperate search for one more beating heart.
Mickey Mantle the baseball player once said that “a team is a group of people working for a common goal, and a gang is a place where cowards go to hide”. We have witnessed the ultimate examples of both throughout this blood-curdling tragedy.
In the near future, Americans will almost certainly be faced with the necessity of sending their military into harm's way. I was in the Air Force during Desert Storm, so I share firsthand the thoughts and feelings going through the minds of so many in "our" military right now. I am reminded of an old poem by a man named Alan Seeger. He was an Army Captain in WWI and wrote a foxhole poem about the terrible paradox of war in the springtime. He was later killed in that war. This is what he penned:
I HAVE a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air¯
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath¯
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.
God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous.
I believe, this is what most people in the military are feeling now. Fear of facing danger, hatred of war, fond memories of a peaceful home life . . . but ultimately, their relentless commitment to "our" country. Each person in the US military willingly stands up and faces their own rendezvous with death in their own way. To them, Duty, Honor, Country aren't just words, they are a "way of life" and profession…risk is their business. The words represent a selfless commitment to a higher cause, the preservation of America; that commitment compels them to rise in the face of danger and stand fast against terror. The young captain in the fighter pilot's seat, the Marine corporal who clings to his rifle when charging into battle, the seaman who stands on deck and prepares planes for fight and flight, the Air Force enlisted mechanic dutifully preparing a fighter jet in the dead of night. Everyone one of them has embraced this ideal, and they prove it every day by placing their lives on the line. For US - that is "we" as people and U.S., the American nation.
The same holds true for our fire fighters, EMTs, and policemen. Can you believe the heroism we've been privileged to witness this past week? What heroic force drives these men and women to run into crumbling, flaming towers of death and destruction, hour after hour, ignoring danger and exhaustion? I believe this comes from the same commitment embodied in our courageous servicemen and women. Our emergency personnel answer to a "higher call" than the feelings they hold for their own families, and even their own lives. It is the fundamental recognition that the defense and rescue of “our” fellow citizens is intrinsic to our nation's character. We are a community, a community that stands for principles. And these heroes understand that putting their own lives at risk is worthwhile if there is even a remote possibility they can save another member of the American community. The fact that they are saving strangers is irrelevant. In the face of catastrophe, those who are committed to the principles of “our” nation don't know strangers; they only know fellow citizens they haven't met yet. No black vs. white, no gender battles or sexual orientation bickering. One community, indivisible!
Can what we have seen since Tuesday be interpreted in any other way?
I wanted to express my sincere thanks to all the citizens who lined the streets and cheered our heroes on. And pass along my devout love and admiration for our servicemen and women, and the courageous police, fire fighters, and EMTs across the U.S., who embodies the finest of the values that define the very best of “our” country. I also wish to say how thankful I am to have cyber colleages such as on this bulletin board that God willing, I can continue to share my love of music and chosen instrument.
This moment in American history will be easily remembered for its dark devastation; it is up to “us” to ensure that it is ALSO remembered as a time when all Americans acknowledged and cherished the finest of our values, as demonstrated in our heroic military and emergency response personnel. God Bless America as “we” face the future together, hand in hand, stride for stride; united as one people with one purpose. v/r KEN
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Author: Matt
Date: 2001-09-17 12:20
Jas:
As a Vermonter who loves to visit Ottawa, I can imagine the many people in front of the Parliament and the appropriately named Peace Tower. The world could learn a lot from the civility of your city.
Thank you.
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