The Tridents: 9/11 Memorial and Museum

Note: Click photo for larger views. ©2017, David A. Porter

I’ve shared hundreds and hundreds of stories and thousands of photographs in our Roaming Boomers Travel Blog over the years.

Usually, when I sit down to share a story of our travels, the words simply pour out onto my keyboard.  But as I look at my photograph of The Tridents in the atrium of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the words are not flowing.

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is a difficult place to visit. Even as I sit here typing, I have tears on my cheeks.

Why is this so difficult? I ponder.  I suppose the most logical answer is that this is hallowed ground and the place where 3,000 people lost their lives. Of course, you will shed a tear.

Yes, I muse. But, I think if we dig to the root of the tears, we find a disturbing fear that seems to be a part of our very fabric.  For here, I am standing before the remnants of a great destruction caused by evil. And it is here that we leave the realm of the physical and perhaps forced to consider the metaphysical (beyond reality).

Does God exist?  And if so, how could he allow such evil to exist?

While I have opinions on such things, this simply isn’t the time and place for that discussion.  I only bring it up because when you walk in the door of the 9/11 Museum, something is going to stir you to the core of your being.  Unless you’re the most insensitive person on the planet, you are going to be disturbed. Bring tissues!

The Tridents, 9/11 Memorial and Museum

The Tridents are two 80-foot tall steel columns that once formed part of the exterior facade of the North Tower are the first artifact visitors see. Called “trees” by World Trade Center architect Minoru Yamasaki, 84 trident columns formed the perimeter structure of the first five stories of each of the Twin Towers.

International Flags are located in the atrium terrace level of the museum. Some of these flags are part of a collection of more than 180 United Nations member states that once hung from the mezzanine level of the original Twin Tower lobbies at the World Trade Center.

These two tridents stand in the atrium overlooking a long escalator that ushers you to the belly of the destruction.  Ultimately, your journey will take you seven stories down until you eventually stand on the bedrock foundation of the former towers.

For now, let’s just ponder The Tridents on their own and I’ll swing back around with other short stories and photographs of our visit in the coming days.
 
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