I think Michelle (deviant-deziner) has explained the approach to memorials quite well. Minimalism and simplicity, when well executed - isn't restrictive - it's evocative. For a controversy over a monument, all you have to look to is Maya Lin's Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. There was huge opposition to the design's supposedly irreverent simplicity. And now, it is almost like the grandfather (grandmother?) to a whole era of minimalistic monuments. Another example to look to, in comparing the Ground Zero memorial, is the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, designed by Peter Eisenman. What he said about his design could also be applied to this discussion: "It stands there, silent. The one who has to talk is you." I will be visiting a friend in NYC soon - I'll try to visit the Ground Zero memorial, take pics and come back with my personal on-the-ground experience of it. - Audric

Cannas, at least the ones NOT specifically sold as "aquatic cannas" (although I'm not sure there is really a difference), do not like to be soggy in the spring when they first start to grow. Soggy cannas are prone to rotting. Once they get going and have some leaves on them, they can tolerate lots more water. I would recommend leaving it in the pot, and removing the pot for the winter and storing like any other canna. Also, you will need to elevate it. It's not going to like being 4 or 5 feet down at the bottom of your pond. A couple inches over the pot is the most you should do, and almost level with the water surface is even better.

You did a great job polly929. It's funny how kids of different personalities/ages take in and process information. My own DD was starting middle school that year, and the school was opening later in the month due to renovation construction on our middle school building. I was at work that day, so DD was with my MIL and my nephew at SIL's house. After seeing just the first few minutes of network coverage (we had all conference room tvs on in the office), the first thing I did was call my MIL to ask her not to tune in at all. I didn't want my DD watching wall to wall coverage. Just didn't think it was a good thing. It was hard enough as an adult to watch. Long story short, I guess curiousity got the best of MIL, and she turned and kept the television tuned in... The issue for me with DD watching was more of the fact that there wasn't any filter. Coverage that day contained none of the warnings when that coverage is now replayed. No warnings that material may not be suitable for children, or is of a sensitive nature for some. We watched real time coverage of some horrible things. People who chose to jump from windows of the buildings rather than face burning to death. These people knew they were going to die, but thought jumping was a better way to go. Those images are forever burned in my memory. A beautiful fall day, I can even remember which suit I was wearing, every single detail of that day is still with me. By the time I could get to SIL's to pick up my DD, which wasn't all that long after my call. Our local office closed around 11 a.m., and by 1 p.m. I was answering DD's questions. Never in my wildest dreams would have imagined those questions that I would have to answer. Sure, DD was going to be a 6th grader, but it was too much to watch. DD's good friend lost her father that day, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee. We talked alot about that in particular. Why? was the biggest question from my DD. It is hard to explain "why?" to a child. The oddest thing of all IMHO, is that our school district did NOTHING, no moment of silence, no acknowledgment at all on the 9/11 anniversaries, despite the fact we had kids in attendance throughout the district lost loved ones. Go figure? I once asked DD's middle school history teacher, who happened to also be her guidance counselor, why this was. He explained that the district felt it was up to the parents to handle telling their own children about the event. Apparently, they didn't want to say anything about the event, for fear of a backlash from parents who totally shield their children. I don't agree that we shouldn't tell our kids when bad things happen. I think we should share an age appropriate amount of information, welcome all questions, and deal with those questions on an ad hoc basis. Polly, I will be thinking of you and your friend & her family on Sunday. It is comforting to have your closest friends to lean on, especially on a day that marks...

I've never been to NYC and as ignorant as it sounds I didn't even know what the WTC was at the time it happened. When you live so far from the scene of any event it's hard to grasp 100% what locals are experiencing. I'd hear New Yorkers say how strange it was to look up and not see those two buildings there any longer. Being a landmark they identified with it in a way we weren't able to. Like WIP08 said, many knew people who perished or were injured. No one I know had that personal connection, it was something we watched on TV. A woman even said on the radio, when she turned on the TV 9-11-01 she thought she was see a trailer for the next Die Hard movie. The media protected us all so much from the reality of death we healed from it faster than those who witnessed it. You're right, no one here is talking about the memorial. It's not like we can go visit it on the weekend. We'll watch on TV like everything else. This is why I make a point to view the documentaries, so I can get a sense of what these people who survived actually went through. Because no one here had personal stories to tell. This weekend I was listening to a radio talk show broadcasted from NY and they were discussing their memories of 9-11. I didn't know they estimated 200 people jumped from the towers. I thought only a handful did that. When they said in the documentary bodies and body parts were all over the place including inside people's apartments I couldn't believe it. All we were shown was a lot of grey dust and papers. You get desensitized a lot quicker when you've been spared the guts and gore of it. On 9-11 I was home. By the time I woke up the first tower had been hit hours ago. Took me awhile just to figure out what they were talking about. DH was so clueless he got ready for work like it was any other day, oK so a building in NY is on fire. I told him as he was leaving this is no fire, this is worse and he should stay home from work. He dismissed it and left for work anyway. It was a couple hours before they finally understand at work this WAS BIG. I was glued to the TV but not my husband. And because I saw more of the candid shots of people searching for their loved ones it captured my heart. That's what he missed. One image has stayed with me all these years. Never saw it except that one time. A news reporter sees a teenage girl in tears, she was holding a picture of her father who was missing. I have never seen a girl more desperate and panicy than her. This was when family were starting to post pictures on that large wall. That wall of pictures is what made it personal to me, it wasn't just a big building falling down, these people were in it. I'll never forget the anguish on her face. I felt so bad for her and was praying for her father to come home for her sake. DH missed all that so now when I tell him there are documentaries on the building of the new WTC he only wants to see them talk about construction, doesn't want to hear to human interest stories. No wonder the 10th anniversary doesn't mean that much to him. He has yet to identify with it on a personal level. So years and years go by with no news at all and then suddenly this month we see documentaries and hear that buildings have gone up and a memorial is ready. I didn't know they were that far along, as far as I could tell NewYorkers were still squabbling over what to build! Isn't it sad that on 9-11-11 we have to go to a little known network called the SCIENCE channel to see these documentaries? This should be airing on ABC/NBC/CBS. I hope they aren't planning to show their regular schedule of boob-tube programming. Heaven forbid Americans not get to see whatever stupid show they're hooked on.