Welcome to Sunset Heights: September 2006

September 23-24

Inside Edition

Doug and Alex are hard at work on the floor.

Upstairs at the cabin

Steady, on!

Steady Strides

We had a neat surprise this weekend. The railing to the porch was made out of the tree that got toppled over during the microburst in July. It's a neat detail and completely fits in with the charecter of the house, (and the people in it)

Front Porch

Progress

Our friends Betty and Jack were nice enough to email this picture to us. We're going up this weekend to take stuff up and work on the interior boards some more.

honoring James G. Smith

5 years ago, a tragedy occurred. Regardless of your politics, regardless of your beliefs about who was the perpetrator, the fact remains, 2996 Americans fell victim to an attack on September 11, 2001. Personally, that day is etched in my mind as deeply as the day Reagan got shot, John Lennon's murder, and the Challenger explosion. In honor of the victims of that day, someone thought it would be fitting for bloggers to honor just one of the victims on their blog. At random, I was assigned a name: Mr. James G. Smith, the 2853rd person on the list. I am proud to memorialize him here. If you are a friend and family member of Mr. Smith, feel free to leave a comment, to share your memories of your loved one.

JAMES GREGORY SMITH
`Ready to Bite a Bear'
Maybe James Gregory Smith's knack for finance began with the paper-route money he stashed in his Cap'n Crunch Treasure Box for safekeeping. Instead of frittering his funds away, he stockpiled them. From then on, he always held after-school jobs. A stalwart Islanders fan, he kept himself in hockey skates during high school in Hicksville, N.Y., helped put himself through college, and used contacts supplied by his uncle to land a series of jobs on Wall Street, the last at Cantor Fitzgerald.
He once told his sister, Barbara-Jayne Lewthwaite, that a successful trader needed to get up each morning "ready to bite a bear." Which he happily did. She suspects that in a less capitalistic landscape he might have preferred to run a little wine shop — he was a budding collector — or coach hockey.
"But he felt lucky to have his job; we grew up in a working-class family, and Jimmy's career choice turned out to be such a lucrative one," said Ms. Lewthwaite. It bought him and his wife, Donna, a home in Garden City. It meant he was able to take ski vacations with friends, and to take his four children on annual treks to Disney World. Recently it had allowed him to indulge, at age 43, in a sporty Saab convertible he wryly called his "change-of-life" mobile or, whenever he and Donna needed a night out on the town, his "date car."

James was a 1979 graduate of the University at Albany. In 2002, the first anniversary of his loss, his alma mater planted two trees in memory of him, the other seventeen alumni lost with him, and the thousands of other voices silenced so brutally and suddenly.

My heart goes out to the family who mourn his senseless death, not only on 9/11/2001, but every day since then. The date of 9/11/2006 must be especially painful for them. To Mr. Smith’s family and friends, I say I only hope your pain eases with time.

Mr. Smith, you will be remembered forever by Americans who respect you for your being “Just a Guy” and an American who died for the simple fact you were someone who did his job to the best of his ability. We as a nation of “Just a Guys” salute you.

The victims of 9-11-01 were more than just numbers and statistics. They were real people, family members, team members, leaders... Let us remember them...for who they were in their own lives and stop remembering how this all came about. Let's celebrate the lives of those, the character of those who were abruptly taken from their time here on earth.

September 11.... Five Years Later: A departure from the usual blog postings and an explaination

I am taking a brief departure from writing about log cabins, New Hampshire, family and building to reflect on one of the most horrible important historical events of our lifetime. September 11-5 years later. Now I hope this blog's usual readers- basically my friends and family- will allow me this departure.

I don't have the words to do justice to my thoughts about this moment in history, but I will try to adequately express how I feel and convey my tribute to all whose lives were affected and those who perrished in the attacks 5 years ago.

Five years ago, as I was getting ready to go to work, I had the Today Show on in the morning. It was a lively early September day, you know, one of those days when you think of hope, and the new school year, and all being right with the world. Al Roker made some coment about it being a perfect day, or something to that effect. I think the major news story of the day was shark attacks. Life was good. I was at my office, when I read on Boston.com that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. The news went from bad to worse as the day progressed, and my co-workers and I watched and listened in horror. Of course confusion ensued and I frantically emailed to find out if my cousin Peter who worked in NYC was ok. (he was.) Outside in the streets it was like a ghost town-everything quiet and somber, and everybody was glued to a TV set. Life as we knew it would never be the same.

The weekend after September 11, my family made out way up to New Hampshire, up to camp. We were planning to go up then anyways, to celebrate my Dad's birthday. Peter and John were up there that weekend, too. After such a traumatic week it seemed more important than ever to be with family, to be with the people we loved.

And so life has gone on. 1825 days. Life gets back to normal. Except for the people whose lives will never be the same. As I paused and I reflected on how I might honor what happened 60 months ago to ordinary people, who got up in the morning, went to work, and had their lives ripped appart, I found I was not alone in my desire to commemorate this event.

I came upon the 2996 project. 2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11.
On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers like me will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11.Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.
We will honor them by remembering their lives, and not by remembering their murderers. I am blogger 2853, and I will be honoring James G. Smith. If you want to learn more about this project go to http://http://www.dcroe.com/2996/?page_id=34

In closing, I would like to say as corny as it sounds- life life to the fullest. Love the people you love and tell them that often, laugh with your friends, try to find joy in the mundane and the ridiculous. Live your life with happiness. No one knows what the next moment brings. All we can do is remember the the stories of the victims, and honor their lives by living ours.

As always:
Peace, love and happiness,

Martha

Final Floor Plans

Thought it might be fun to Show the offical floor plans so you can see the layout of our cabin.

Labor Day Weekend

We went up this weekend to work some more on the house. Things are really shaping up. So perhaps we'll have Christmas here this year? It's been fun shopping for stuff for the house. Can't wait to see what changes happen over the next few weeks.