Same date, 18 years

Rattling down a gravel road pulling a trailer to a South Kansas City tree farm. My focus on the route and timing of the day. I had 2 crews at 2 project sites. Need to make sure I get these trees loaded right and in proper order to insure a quick turn around.

It was already late in the morning for my liking. Wanted everything in the ground and watered at both sites by noon.

As I pulled into the farm, I noticed everyone was looking up scanning the sky. Odd.

I hopped out of my rig and took a look up, not knowing why everyone else was.

Big swooping contrails stretched across the clear blue Missouri sky. Odd.

"We're at war."

Everything went red. Chills shot up my entire body at the matter of fact tone coming from my longtime tree guy. He was deadly serious. "We are at war. Damn it...this is real."

The day was a fog of surreal air from that moment. Trees were loaded slowly. The drives from site to site were sluggish. Listening to the AM radio for the next plane to hit the next target. Scanning the sky for activity. Going through the motions of work. Nothing felt right. Everything was unfamiliar.

My mind meandered. Will there be a draft? How big is this war going to be? This is my generation's Pearl Harbor. What can I do? Where do I sign up? Are we being invaded? Have we already been invaded and are the sneak attacks just beginning? I am getting married in a couple of months. How do I tell my fiance that I am going to war?

It was around 3pm before I saw any video footage. I was at an irrigation supplier in Stilwell, KS. Same sluggish air as the tree farm hours earlier. These boys were fired up though. Righteous might type stuff.

I watched coverage with them for about 15 mins or so, then back on the road to get things done. Now, I drove with haunting images. Of the planes slamming into The World Trade Center towers. The humans falling down the facade of the towers to their certain death. The collapse of each building. The fear on the faces of the humans as they fled clouds and debris. Seeing the hole in the Pentagon. The smoke in the field of Pennsylvania. I started to get fired up.

Our world changed that day, 18 years ago. I did not go to war as many did. I kept planting trees and continued my career, But that day pierced me. Life is a precious thing and life as an American is a privilege that few humans on this planet know.

From that day a larger more urgent purpose was born in my being. I cherish every moment in the nursery, greenhouse, field, landscape, and/or garden. Every moment moves slower. Every scent lingers a bit longer. Every vision is a little brighter. I am a truly blessed human.

The rush to get the job done never regained it's fury, I must admit. The urgency has been replaced by an appreciation for moments in Creation's embrace.

Yours in The Garden, Chris