I’d like to point out at the start that I’m not by nature a political person. Yet at the same time I feel it is imperative to point out things that are important to cover that are contrary to what I believe go against all I believe to be good and just.

I would much rather write about the things I love like surfing, family, volunteerism, nature and other more mundane and uplifting subjects.

I should also point out that when I use the term normal, I’m not certain that any period of time throughout history have things been “normal”. I suppose the proper way to express what normal would look like are times that are less stressful.

I believe I am justified in saying that there is nothing normal or less stressful with what is currently going on in our country or the world in general right now for that matter.

As such, many, if not most people would like to escape, at least for a bit of time from all of the stress and trauma they are seeing and feeling these days.

Doing so could not be easy unless one is living alone out in the wilderness or simply not paying attention.

This past week my wife and I travelled to Orlando for a short getaway and to, at least for a moment escape reality and the news sources we generally watch with great regularity.

As I had recently purchased a season pass to WDW I figured I could use it and have a little fun and otherwise simply enjoy time with my wife at the resort we were staying at.

While to a degree it was fun, at the same time I couldn’t enjoy it fully as I was conflicted knowing that so many people were suffering on the streets of Minneapolis and elsewhere throughout our country and the world.

It was a bit surreal walking through the various parks filled with so many people who seemingly were having the times of their lives and without a care in the world and as if all the trauma going on was in another world and distant past.

I had to wonder if most didn’t care or like me were just trying to find some normalcy in their lives.

It once again reminded me of the events surrounding 9/11. I was in New York City the days leading up to that day. My wife and I had just dropped our daughter off at Southampton College on Long Island and I also had set up business meetings in the city during our stay.

On the seventh of September I had a business meeting in Brooklyn with a customer whose office overlooked the East River and had a direct view of the twin towers. As I gazed out their window and stared at the twin towers, I recalled how sever years prior terrorists tried to blow them up by placing bombs underneath them. Thankfully they were unsuccessful in their attempt.

On the morning of the eleventh, my wife and I left our motel in Hampton Bays and headed into the city where I was supposed to take part in another meeting, this time in the city itself.

As one could guess, we never made it there as the twin towers were attacked by two passenger jets. My wife and I were unaware of the events as our radio was off but apparently the lady in the car behind us must have been listening as when the news of the second attack was aired she ran into the back of the SUV we had rented.

The damage to our vehicle was so severe that we were barely able to drive it to a nearby rental agency where we were luckily able to exchange it for the last vehicle they had on hand.

Knowing all of the bridges and tunnels were closed to any and all traffic we decided to head back to the motel we had stayed at to wait for things to subside to the point where hopefully we could return to our then home in upstate New York.

To our surprise, the following day I found out that for some unknown reason the ferry between Southport and Connecticut was still running. After reserving a spot on the ferry then saying good-by to our daughter the following morning we made our way to the ferry port to catch a ride home.

Just like our time at WDW, the ride across the Long Island Sound that morning was surreal to say the least. Many of the passengers were laughing and taking selfies as well as photographs of the scenery as if they didn’t have a care in the world,

I also spoke with a fellow surfer who said he had been surfing at Ditch Plains near Montauk Point on the eleventh and that the place was packed with surfers despite all that had occurred that morning.

That was quite off-putting for me. Yes, the waves were great that morning, but even though I had brought my surfboard with me during the trip as we had stayed over the prior weekend in the area, there was no way I could have justified paddling out knowing how many people were suffering.

As such, I had to wonder if those who chose to surf despite all that had occurred either didn’t care or were simply trying to escape all of the horror and live their lives as they normally would have.

The episode left me feeling quite conflicted and simply stated, saddened by it all. The truth was they were not normal times.

So yes, even during such stressful times we can’t stop living our lives as “normally” as possible, yet at the same time we can’t turn a blind eye to the horrors that are going on around us and simply hope it all goes away.

In one way or another, it does affect us all and if we sit back and just let it take it’s course we might wake up one day and find we have lost all of our freedoms and as such things might never seem normal again.

Thanks for checking in again this week and let’s pray that love will overcome hate and peace will replace war.