This has been such a long week. The emotions just keep pouring and pouring out of everyone. I can’t get away from the news, and I don’t want to. I just want to spend my time watching what is happening, even if there really is nothing happen and there is no happy news.

It’s all sorrow.

The kids have done fairly well at school all week, but has been a drain on everyone. We have tried hard to keep them from obsessing about what was going on, as it’s easy to see the fear start to escalate, and the rumors start to fly. They do best with the usual routine.

I do wonder about the level of fear that is in these kids.

On Wednesday morning a plane went over at about 10:50, and we all knew that the airports were still shout done. There were looks of horror on the faces of the kids and they all froze in their seats, looking towards the window. Their eyes were wide with fear. Some started whispering that they were hearing a plane, and that they weren’t supposed to be flying. No one wanted to hear the sound of a plane. It was supposed to be quiet. I reminded them that the Air National Guard was protecting the skies, and they calmed back down.

But I have to say that I, too, was startled by the sounds of the engines.

All the teachers reported the same reaction from their classes when we gathered at lunch.

In the middle of the night last night there was a plane that seemed to be too close, too loud, and it woke me up from a sound sleep. I sat bolt upright and my heart was pounding.

It makes me wonder how this will change us, what it will do to our sense of security.

As usual, when anything like this tragedy happens, Americans simply become even more American. We wear our colors, fly our flags, and gather to mourn and sing.

it shows that no matter what we can’t be destroyed as a nation.

We are not just buildings, but people unified in horror and tragedy, banding together to show our strength.

But it is frightening.

Last night they had to evacuate the Capitol because there was a bomb scare. They’ve moved the Vice President to Camp David, and he hasn’t been seen in days. The perimeter of security around the White House has been pushed back even farther. They had to shut down the New York area airports again because of people who showed up with fake passports and I.D.s.

There was a thunderstorm last night, with lots of lightening and loud thunder (it set off the car alarms at a nearby dealership) and I was petrified. Now, I’ve never liked thunder, but I’ve never been totally flipped out like that either.

I wish I could better understand the fanaticism of the people who planned this act, and who carried it out. I know there must be a deep level of hate, but I don’t understand the why of it. I can’t hate anything that deeply.