USA 3

I've just arrived back home after my latest work trip to the USA where I had three nights in New York and one in Washington. The temperature in Canberra when I left was in the high thirties and in New York hovering around zero, which left me thinking is this a crazy planet or what! I did see my first North American snow in New York when I awoke last Friday morning to see the city covered in the fluffy white stuff (seen covering an old cemetary near Ground Zero in lower Manhatten).

With my work commitments out of the way, I spent my last morning in New York walking around the Ground Zero site and also visiting the September 11 tribute centre in Liberty Street. The picture at right shows the sun rising over a frozen Ground Zero with snow in the foreground. I had visited Ground Zero on a previous trip to NY but had never seen the tribute centre before.

To visit the centre is intensely moving and it is hard to keep a dry eye in the place when you see the so many photos of loved ones, young and old, that lost their lives on 11 September 2001 and when you see the many poignant artifacts. The photo at left below is of a NY Fire Department coat and helmet that belonged to a deceased firefighter who died during the collapse of one of the World Trade Centre towers. The coat and helmet were recovered separate from the remains and as the large tear at the back of the coat suggests had literally been torn from the body from the forces generated by the collapse of the tower. I was moved to write something on one of the comment cards at the centre as I finished my visit. This is what I wrote:

Dear Mr Terrorist
We will never forget what you did to us on 911 when you showed us evil in its most pure form. All you have done is stregthen our resolve to confront evil in all its forms, the very thing you sought to deny us.

On a happier note I had a great week in the USA, which was my third trip there in 14 months. I didn't seem at all bothered by jet lag as I had on my last trip there in September last year. I slept better over there than I do at home and I managed to get in some great runs in both Washington and New York. I had to confront an official wind chill factor of minus 10 in Washington and all I wanted to do was to get back to my hotel and get warm.

In New York I had a couple of wonderful runs around and through Central Park, the last one taking place with the park covered in snow and to the sounds of young people having a great time at the Wollman open air ice skating rink. That run was was an absolute delight and my only regret is that I didn't take my camera with me (sorry Ewen) to take some shots. While I was in Central Park I thought of all those great runners to finish the NY marathon there, including our very own Lucky Legs. After finishing with Central Park I had a great time dodging Manhatten's lunch time pedestrian traffic. The locals must have wondered who this nut was but I had a ball and frankly couldn't have cared what anyone thought. Think of those street scenes from Crocodile Dundee and you will get an idea of what I had to confront.

During my train trip from New York to Washington I did a four hour stopover in Philadelphia. I made the pilgrimage to the Philadelphia Musuem of Art where I just had to run the famous steps that were the site of that great scene from Rocky I where Stallone sprints up the steps thrusts his arms in the air and does a little dance to the sounds of 'Gonna Fly Now'. Even though the movie was released in 1976 I read that hundreds every year continue to do the Rocky thing and run those steps. Sure enough on the day I visited there were several people doing just that, including that dude from Downunder (below right).

After arriving back in Australia I had the great pleasure of meeting up with Sekhmet and Blkbox for a cuppa at the Sydney domestic terminal. You are an inspiration guys.

Surprinsingly I seem to be suffering more from jet lag on my return to Oz than when I was in the States. I have suggested to my boss that perhaps I need to go back to the States and return home via London to reverse the process! I am still waiting for her to get back to me.....