I’m walking to work now. The kids reading their parents’ names are so heartbreaking. The bells ringing are surprisingly moving.

Crowd on Church Street.

audio post powered by audblog

audio post powered by audblog

audio post powered by audblog

“I woke up this morning / To an empty sky.” –Bruce Springsteen

Two years later, the emptiness is still palpable. It still “looks wrong.”

Flag at half staff at Ground Zero

A huge American flag on the World Financial Center.

At the WTC subway station, a large crowd, including many cops, get off the train.

My tribute in light has begun. See www.brendanloy.com/webcam.html for a live image. I’m getting on the subway now, heading downtown.

Well, it’s here: the second anniversary of that terrible day, September 11, 2001, when terrorists brought war to America.

I plan to wake up around 6:00 in the morning (instead of my usual 7:00) and head downtown, perhaps to get a glimpse of Ground Zero before the ceremory there starts, then walk north to work. But my plans could change. Whatever I do, you can watch this space for various audio and photo posts as the morning unfolds — and later, when the Tribute in Light beams come on in the evening.

And of course, don’t forget to watch my own “tribute in light” live on my webcam.

This Ground Zero cam may also be worth watching. And in the evening, check out the Jobs & the City cam for a view of the Empire State Building’s red, white, and blue lights.

They don’t call September 10 the peak day of the Atlantic hurricane season for nothing. Hurricane Isabel was upgraded to 145 mile-per-hour winds at 11:00 PM. About a week from now, it could be threat to anyplace along the U.S. East Coast, from Miami to Hatteras and perhaps further north. Stay tuned.

I’ve been working on my 9/11 light ceremony for the last two days straight, and you know what? It’s getting way too overwhelming, and I need to get to bed soon, especially since I plan to get up quite early tomorrow… and I’m already exhausted. Without going into the technical details, timing the American flag is proving to be a nightmare, and it’s really stressing me out, so I’m simplifying it. Here’s the new plan: I’ll plug in the American flag when I wake up tomorrow, and it will simply stay on all day. The white lights will turn on at 6:45 AM, and will then turn themselves on and off as described here.