My wife was living in New York State when the twin towers dropped. One of the first questions I asked her when we met (well, when I'd sobered up the next day) was "what did it feel like to be there?". Her response was melancholic and vague back then and, to this day, she still can't (or won't) articulate the emotion of the day.
Generally, she's not one of those flag-waving sorts, so her reaction to today's news was more muted than those who took to the streets of Washington and New York. She was pleased, but I sense that as an American and someone who lived close to the tragedy her feelings are caught up in a mixture of patriotism and embittered attachment.
For me, I always find it difficult to celebrate the death of any person. I've grown an innate (and unrealistic) belief that there's good in everyone. Such a disposition is not something I'm particularly proud of - it often makes me far too quick to relent - yet it's an aspect of my personality I live with and one my more staunch wife tends to balance out quite well.
Sure, I'm happy justice has been done, as President Obama proclaimed, but I have a niggling feeling that there would have been more worth holding OBL captive and extrapolating as much information as possible.
Returning to the first paragraph, what I expected to happen today was for Su to leave for Ipswich for two days and for me to try and find something to do on my day off. To fill my time in between rolling news reports that never seem to change, I toddled off to Salisbury Crags to take some pictures. You can see a few of them below and more at my Flickr account.
Considering just how strange and monumental a day it's been, it was good to find out that the sun was still shining, the wind was still blowing and the swans were going about their every day business with typical elegance. Now, that's the kind of freedom everyone should have.
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