Every firetruck in North Bergan rushed to a fire on Bergenline Avenue early today. At least seven structures were burning as men with hoses attempted to douse the ranging flames at twilight. Ice quicky formed from water pumped from hydrants all over the neighborhood. Across the Hudson River, the Empire State Building lit with a multitude of colors appeared as a ship in the fog, yet no one in Union City cared about skycrapers this morning.
A westerly breeze carried the fumes away from New Jersey and into the heart of midtown. News choppers from every station except PBS hovered high overhead, streaming live video of the tragedy into the flat screen televsion at my feet.
Six AM, meditation and prayer time—following instructions from great Christian mystics, I slipped away and stopped every thought in my head, even of the raging fire just outside my door.
Perfect silence.
The choppers fade as if the emptiness inside my head was what put out the big fire up on the hill.
