The US yesterday struggled to regain some semblance of normality with the resumption of trading, flights, sports and everything else suspended following last week's devastation.
Trying valiantly to respond to an appeal from President Bush to "show the world that we're still the strongest nation in the world", morning commuters in New York got on their way a little earlier than usual, with many cars displaying American flags as they sped to work.
National Public Radio, hoping to smooth the transition to ordinary life in the wake of the crashes of four hijacked commercial aircraft into US military and financial targets, urged television networks to cease repeatedly broadcasting the images of the exploding World Trade Centre towers.
But in southern Manhattan there was no way to ignore the horrific site of the explosion that levelled the 110-story twin towers, burying more than 5,000 people.
Karen Altfest, taking her normal commuter ferry across the Hudson River, was "very apprehensive" as the Manhattan skyline, now without the twin towers, came into view.
"Our office is intact, but there is no electricity, no phone, no computer," said Ms Altfest, who, along with her husband, runs a company that deals in pension funds.
Financial traders streamed back as the market reopened. "It's a scary sight coming back in," said risk manager Chris Osborne, who was in London when the terrorists struck. "I've never seen this district so subdued and so quiet."
Those coming across the Hudson River from New Jersey saw a heavy Coast Guard boats "armed to the teeth", according to a Nasdaq trader. He said that looking across to the tip of Manhattan was a sobering view because "all you could see was smoke. It was like a phantom twin towers."
Arthur Flores (45), a parking-lot attendant from Brooklyn, returned to work even though police barricades meant there would be no cars for him to park.
"I have an obligation to come down," he said.
Brokers said they were nervous ahead of the resumption of trading.
Aimee Landwehr (31) said that "seeing the burnt cars and smoke is unnerving."
She works in a skyscraper, but said: "I don't want to think about it."
In Washington, though Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport here remained closed indefinitely due to its proximity to the White House and the Pentagon, air traffic around the US capital continued relatively unabated, with flights leaving regularly from Virginia's Dulles International Airport and Maryland's Baltimore/ Washington International Airport.
The United States Postal Service - which pieced together a ground network to transport thousands of letters around the country when air transport was suspended - resumed its service with a new system of security measures in place.
Television networks slowly began ceding their screens to their regularly scheduled programming, replacing the live horrific images of destruction with talk shows, comedies and sporting programmes.