For the first time since 2006, I was above the ground last week, flying in an airplane. As a child, I have to admit being very scared of airplane travel. As someone who studied music from an early age, maybe it was the fact that so many musicians lost their lives while trying to get from Date A to Date B in the air. Once I did fly for the first time, however, in the fall of 1999, I have to admit I liked it...I liked it a lot. There are some things that puzzle me about the flying experience. For example, why do gummi bears, one of my guilty pleasures, cost $4.99 for the same size bag that I can get for $1.99 at Donna's IGA in downtown Centerville, TN? It's just a question I have wondered from time to time.
That, and a few other quirks aside, I have no problem with the airport experience. Granted, a four hour flight from anywhere seems long, but if you ever want to do some serious people watching, one can do it at the airport. You see all kinds. It's more of a cultural universe than going to Wal-Mart. What has always amazed me about flying is you can leave Nashville at 6am, and within three or four hours (save Hawaii or Alaska) you can be anywhere in the United States. Reno, Bangor, Key West, Bakersfield, Chuicago....It doesn't matter.
Over the past week, I sliced two states off my "never been to list" as a result of air travel. Granted, I spent much of a forty-minute layover in Denver hoping I could find a bathroom quick enough to find my connecting flight. I got to spend some time in Nevada, however, and I've got to say that I enjoyed the experience. I even had time to cross into that great state known as California. The pace is such that I don't know if I could ever live there, but visiting for a week at a time...that's not bad at all. The Chicago Midway Airport is truly a city within itself, one that has about as many food choices as a shopping mall.
In preparing for the flight, I was surprised that it had been that long since my last one. Suffice to say, I'm ready to go again. You know, I would love a job where I was on the road quite a bit....Maybe that's something to consider. Any ideas? Let me know.....I just hope that next time, I get to see a little more than Denver....I know there's more there than a crowded men's restroom, and a snack bar that sells bottled water....But, I'm just saying!
