I was here, in Sacramento, and had recently started a new job.

Earlier in the year, the State Capitol building had been assaulted by a speeding big rig. I remember the feeling of disorientation, as my small family had kicked a soccer ball one Sunday on that very lawn of Capitol Park just a few days before. The building was in repair for months afterward. I suspected things wouldn’t be the same–we wouldn’t be able to play ball on the lawn anymore–and it turns out I was right. But it wasn’t the speeding truck carrying evaporated milk that changed the way local government looked at its people. It wasn’t the truck that changed the way the people looked at their government.

9/11 happened.

We haven’t played soccer on any government grounds or near any government building since 2001. I doubt we ever will again.