6 (to ‘Page 4 LEVY COUNTY JOURNAL 1 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 OUR VIEW SI Remember your pets To the editor: As Tropical Storm Ernesto bears down on Florida, it is important to remember to make arrangements to protect your animal friends. One of the most valuable lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina is to evacuate if at all possible and to never leave animals behind. There is no way of knowing what may happen to your home and if or when you will be able to return. Companion animals left behind may drown, die of dehydration or heat exhaustion, or escape and become lost. Fortunately, many hotels waive animal restrictions dur- ing disasters. If you can’t afford to stay at a hotel, call your local humane society or animal shelter to ask if any arrange- ments are being made for evacuating animals. Pack a tent so that you can camp out as a last resort. Also pack a leash or carrier, bottled water, bowls, tie-out kit, dry food, kitty litter, and a litter pan. If you can’t get to your home, arrange for a neighbor or : friend to take your ariimals. If you have any elderly, dis- abled, or disadvantaged neighbors, offer to help them evacu- ate with their animals—these people, who are among the most vulnerable, are also often the most likely to refuse to evacuate because of their animals. If you are forced to leave animals behind, never leave them tied up or confined to a cage or to a single room. Allow them access to upper floors and fill bathtubs and sinks with water. Leave several weeks’ supply of dry food scattered around the house and make sure that animals are wearing ID tags. Alisa Mullins coe for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Manatees still in danger To the editor: We appreciate the efforts of The Sirenia Project of the U.S. Geological Survey and John Vargo, the publisher of Boating on the Hudson magazine, for alerting the public to the pres- ence of the endangered manatee recently sighted along the Northeast U.S. Coast. This has brought much needed atten- tion to the threats manatees face in the wild. Despite initial conjecture, the Florida manatee who had traveled along the Hudson River and then over to Rhode Is- land is not Chessie. Chessie, a male manatee featured in Save the Manatee Club’s adoption program, became well-known when he decided to take a long, leisurely swim up north over a decade ago. He’s a great ambassador for his species, as many people throughout the world followed Chessie’s nomadic ad- ventures: while learning about endangered manatees: Florida researchers think that the Florida manatee popula- tion could be reduced by as much as 50 percent’ in'the fu- ture from growing human-related threats unless appropriate - safeguards are taken to protect the manatees’ wintering habi- tat.and reduce human-caused mortality.. Unfortunately, boat strikes continue to kill manatees in near-record numbers. The publicity generated by these northern sightings serves to en- courage more boaters to be careful on the waterways, as many Florida visitors also like to go boating. ‘We have received numerous public i inquires about the north- ern manatee traveler and about manatees in general, which is not unusual because the Club has been a key information source for over 25 years. We encourage visits to our website at www.savethemanatee.org. While there, adopt Chessie or one of his friends, and learn other protection tips for boaters as.the Labor Day weekend is a particularly dafigerous time for manatees and boaters alike. Patrick Rose, Aquatic Biologist Executive Director, Save the: Manatee Club Maitand: Quote of the Week ~The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well. | Joe Ancis The Levy County Journal welcomes Letters to the Ed- itor. Submit your letter by noon Monday. You may email to editor@levyjournal.com, bring it by either of our of- fi ces or mail it to either address on the front page. BL TE The Levy County Journal is published to serve the people of Levy County as the leading information source that empowers the community while never compromising our principles. We: *reflect our community in everything we do. ‘*provide leadership that contributes to the betterment of our community, ‘*record the history of our county and make a difference in the quality of life for our residents and merchants. *promote readership of community events that foster better citizens. *promote readership of advertising thereby fostering a healthy economic environment. Our Mission | —_ “Copyrighted Material Syndicated Content Available from Commercial News Providers” —__ - I looked to the east and prayed THINKING OUT LOUD uesday i is the most stressful day in the life of the weekly newspaper staff. Ad and copy deadlines _ have passed and for the next 10, 12 or 14 hours, the puz- zle comes together in time for the 8 a.m. press deadline Wednesday. Tuesday is a day when the newspaper’s crew stays glued ta computers, makes phone calls short and sends out for lunch. Sept. 11, 2001 started off to be that typical Tuesday. Most of us had dragged in earlier than usual that Tues- day. The office manager had just returned from the routine biscuit run and some of us were sitting in the news- room having breakfast while others, like me, were buried deep in the day’s work, . And then the phone call came. Patty, our typesetter was off on Tuesday. She called and said a plane had crashed into a building in New York. Word spread like butter on a warm biscuit among our offices. And then Patty called again. A second plane had just crashed into that same build- ing. Many of my coworkers - stopped what they were do- ing and searched the Internet for word on what was hap- pening. Ten minutes later, Patty rushed in the front door with a small television and perched it on the front counter. , We all crowded around and there we were when word came that a third plane had crashed into the Penta- gon. One sales rep was frantic. _ Her brother-in-law worked _ at the White House and she ~ wondered if he was in any- 7 way affected. By now we were watching : _ footage caught on camera of _ the crash and hearing for the first time these were acts of Y COUNTY JOURD A TMH COUNTY PAPER « EST. EO2SE Who We Are Managing Editor Carolyn Risner Office Manager/Chiefland Robin Heath Photographer/Production Miriam Blitch Staff Writer Cassie Journigan Sales Representative/Bronson Laura Catlow Typesetter Wilma Jean Asbell terrorism. A little after 10, we heard . the fourth plane had crashed. I remember turning away from everyone huddled by that little TV and going to the door. There I looked to the east and with my head leaning on the window, I prayed. I prayed for those injured or killed; I prayed for my children and I remember ask- ing God, “Will this be how it will’end?” I turned away and walked quietly back to my office and ‘ continued laying out pages. My co-workers remained around that television for at least an hour. I know they thought I was callous and unaffected, but in retrospect, IknowI wasnumb. — _ I tried calling home but my husband wasn’t answer- ing, having worked the late shift the night before. I left this message on the machine, “Where are you? The world is coming to an end!” I tried to lay out pages but those early images were burned into my eyes. And then my son’s teacher called for a telephone confer- ence. ; She obviously had not heard and as she prattled on and on about some misdeed he had done, I kept thinking, “This is not important. Not today. Please, please hang up.” Five years later, as I write this, I still get chills as I remember that morning. A day that changed my life in as much as it made me so much more aware of the fragility of life. Carolyn Risner Tam _ too young to recall Pearl Harbor; President Ken- nedy’s assassi- nation is almost a blur. But this is real. This reminds me that we take so much for granted. That our country has been so blessed to.not have war and devasta- tion on our shores. _. Somehow I managed to get through that week’s pa- per and that night, I checked on each of my children to en- sure they were in their beds where they were supposed to be. Over the next days, and: weeks and even months that followed, I became obsessed. with CNN, Time magazine and every other media outlet. ° I read every account. I watched families search hopelessly among photo- graphs for their loved ones. I cried for people I did not know. I cried for the safety of those I did. I rejoiced that my cousin Bill, who worked at the Pentagon, was absent from work that day because he was becoming a first-time grandfather. For weeks, I wondered if Atlanta, only 85 miles away with its busy airport, would be next. _It was many, many weeks later before the shock I felt . began to dissipate and I gradually quit obsessing over what had transpired the day the world quit turning. But five years later, I have not forgotten, nor will I ever forget. Nor will I ever feel safe © again. That was taken from me on that not-so-typical Tuesday Sept. 11, 2001. Carolyn Risner is man- aging editor of the Levy County Journal. Miss Honey says . riday, Sept. 1, 2006, 7:40 a.m. Happy Birthday, Earlene! - Your Aunt Hon still loves you!! . Good morning! Here I am again! Right back in my recliner with pen and pad and a hot cup of coffee, and yes, Little Bit in my lap! If this isn’t love, you tell me. No, don’t bother, it might be best unsaid. I’m going to Nancy’s at 10:30 this morning and see if she can make me pretty! Ha! That would be a job, but she is good. Have a safe Labor Day, and a good one. Don’t forget to vote Sept. 5 and may the best man (woman) win! Has anyone see m friend Don? I Sie s used to see him down at the restaurant and the dollar store, but haven’t seen him in quiet some time now. I sure hope he is OK! MISS HONEY . [never even knew his last name or his phone number, so if you read this Don, give me a call, just so Pll know you’re OK (only a friend). My number is 486-2474. Just let me know you’re OK. ‘The day time stood still y editor Carolyn has labeled Sept. 11, 2001 as “The day the world stopped turning.” Reflecting back on that horrible day, I realize how apt is this characterization. Time did indeed stand still. remember f that day in all its dramatic detail. I was at my desk working when I receive an email from my husband. He said a plane had just flown into one of the WTO’s twin towers. My brain refused to handle that fact. I went on working. A few moments later a coworker came into my office and asked if I had heard. It was only then, through the voice of an acquaintance, that I woke up to ahorrible reality. Many of us gathered in the conference room, bound © to a television bringing live images of a second plane hitting, and of the towers falling, slowly and silently. More than 3,000 people perished, and millions of us witnessed it. I think there were 30 or so people © crowded into our little conference room. And yet it seemed we were not there together but each alone within a solitary hole of disbelief, fear and grief. . I knew immediately where : the attack:came from. I did not know in those early hours the name Osama bin Laden, nor did I recall his al- Qaeda brigade, but I knew this desperate act was born in the Middle East among religious extremists. I had graduated just five years previously with a - degree in religious studies. My focus was Christianity, but I studied all the world’s major religions. One of my professors—Iranian by birth—taught a course called “The Politics of Islam” that provided a historic overview of the who, what, when, where and why of Muslim extremism. And I had already watched the numerous attacks that began in the 1970s. Each it seemed was more vicious and took more lives than the previous one. In that class I learned but bits of how religion can be perverted to wage war that was anything but holy. I already knew my history, and knew that wars levied in the name of any religion appeared to be anything but holy. I merely saw another See Cassie Page 5 I saw Donald down at the dollar store yesterday, but my little buddy Glen wasn’t with him! I have been home most of this week washing clothes and cleaning up my kitchen cabinets and next there are the clothes to iron and put away, then maybe I can find my way in the bedroom - without getting lost! I’m going to bake a cake for the girls down at the Bronson yard sale for this weekend! So they can have a snack. They do enjoy it when I bake, and yes, I like to bake too! I guess I have said enough See Honey Page 5