Postcard from Washington, D.C.

"Everyone must remain in their seats.  If anyone gets up, we will divert the aircraft to another airport."  The voice of the American Airlines pilot comes over the loudspeaker as we approach Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.  A profound silence settles over all the passengers as everyone remembers . . .  For a brief moment, I see what they saw and imagine what they must have felt. We fly over the Potomac and in the distance, is the Capitol, standing tall and bright as the dome reflects the afternoon sun.  Why do I travel?  To better understand events, past and present, and what effect we are are having on the future of the world.  (July 2002)