The sounds of sirens

...and helicopters, frantic conversations overheard in the street, and me, tearing up, over and over again.

Today was Patriot's Day, a Massachusetts state holiday commemorating the famous battles of Concord and Lexington back in the Revolutionary War.  It's also the day of the Boston Marathon.  I've gone out a couple of times and really enjoyed it (even though running a marathon seems like utter torture to me, it's still a fun spectator sport).  And one friend from grad school set a personal record today - he ran the course in 2 hours and 34 minutes.  What an accomplishment, but to happen on such a day.

He and the rest of the country are always going to remember today as the day that there were two explosions at the finish line in Copley.  My Copley.  I was just there a week ago.  This is my city.  My home.  And I am devastated.  Three are dead, including an eight year old boy.  I finally sat down to watch the video released by CNN of the actual bombing, look at some of the photos, and I am a total wreck.  And my girls here in McCormick...most of them were so young during September 11th that this is the first time that a terrorist attack has really hit home.  You can see their fear. 

This picture was taken around 4 pm this afternoon.  People were still streaming across the bridge towards Cambridge, getting away from the city.  Now, at 9 pm, there are police cars everywhere, and all bridges are closed.  They still don't know who, or why, or if there are any other explosive devices hidden in the city.  No terrorist group has claimed responsibility, and no one knows what's going on. 

MIT to Copley.  The bridge you see in the photo is the one highlighted above.  It's a 30 minute walk to Copley from my place. 

I had to be at work all day (research doesn't take a day off) - so I was at MIT when it all went down...I received an alert from the Washington Post in my email account, and read it in disbelief.  Cell service went down, and I had called home on the landline to let my family know I was okay.  And I am okay---no one I know was injured, only a few friends were downtown, but in reality, I am a mess.  And I wasn't even there.  I can't imagine what it's like to have lived through that, to have seen the sidewalks strewn with detached limbs, running with blood, smoke filling the air.  What has this world come to?  And how will Boston sleep tonight?  The Green Building will watch over us, in the very least. 

from here