Where Were You Five Years Ago Today?

This was the question posed on CNN this morning. It was exactly five years ago today that the war in Iraq was officially declared. Where was I?

Hmmm…I was sitting on top of the radiator at the window of my third floor apartment in Denver’s Capital Hill, listening to the news and watching a blizzard blow incredible amounts of snow onto the city. Just below the window, several students from the Art Institute were busily making what I initially thought was a huge snow man, but turned out to be a huge snow penis instead (they got points for creativity from me). I sat for hours listening to the news and the watching students, listening to the news and watching the students. The entire three-day blizzard was surreal, but that particular day was even more so. I was torn between the outbreak of war, the building of the snow penis, the snow boarding and skiing in the streets, and my own descent into the mayhem of a snow-bound Capital Hill. Finally several of us tore ourselves away from the war coverage (and the pacing in front of the window) to pick the lock on the building’s roof access stairwell/ladder, at which time we set up a snowball sniper headquarters and proceeded to pelt unsuspecting building-mates with snowballs for the next hour or so. You see, we were influenced by the war coverage...

That’s where I was when the war broke out. What about you?