Wednesday's Walker!- Mary Ellen

It’s time for another Wednesday Walker, and I love this section. Every response has been different!

This week will be an entry from my friend and fellow writer, Mary Ellen.

One of my most memorable walks:

On the afternoon of September 11, 2001, I wasn't sure what to do with myself. I knew I had to stop watching the television and listening to NPR for every last horrific image and tidbit of information. Obviously returning to my home office to work wasn't going to happen . . . I was too overwhelmed with shock, terror and sadness. I called a good friend and asked if she could escape her desk and go for a walk. She worked for the USGS, and all federal offices had been closed. We headed for Buffalo Park, a place where I had often walked my dog, trained for my first marathon and always took visiting family to. It was eerily quiet. No one else was there, despite the beautiful late summer weather. We normally never noticed the air traffic overhead, but somehow that day (yet unaware that all commercial flights had been grounded) we were acutely aware that the sky was empty. No planes, no contrails, no clouds. We didn't yet know what it all meant or how much the world had changed - we just knew many things would be different. It was comforting to walk with a good friend, in a familiar and beloved place, a Flagstaff landmark and centrifuge for gathering. It was comforting to do something so simple when the world had just multiplied in complexity. Buffalo Park and its familiar vistas were a refuge that day, a place to feel safe.