Day @ DIA

I was driving home from Denver, after dropping off Cooper with my mother-in-law on her way to visit Cooper’s cousins in Kansas for a week, when I was approaching Peña Blvd. It was only a few short miles from our meeting point at E-470 and I-70 to Peña Blvd. In those few short miles, I thought to myself.... what does one do when you’re unemployed, child-less for a week, and with an absolute non-existent agenda? As Peña Blvd approached, without any regard to thought or planning, my car took the exit and off to the airport I went. When does one get the opportunity to just fly somewhere.... anywhere.... on a moment’s notice? Fortunately, I had a small backpack of clothes in the car. Unfortunately, I hadn’t showered yet. Regardless, I parked my car and hopped on the shuttle. I thought of all the places I could go. First I thought Chicago. I had never been to Chicago and it would be a wonderful place to explore.... spontaneously. But then I thought Los Angeles. I had a few contacts who might be able to hook me up with a couch (since unemployment meant budget), and I happened to know of a few shows playing at the Hotel Café that weekend. For awhile now, I’ve wanted to catch a show at Hotel Café, so it seemed appropriate that this was the place to go. I didn’t have much; just a basic phone, a few clothing items and an appetite for adventure. I had a "plan." I got a (standby) ticket. Then I waited. Aaaand waited. I wasn’t able to catch the next flight to LA due to a previous flight cancelation. So I waited for the next flight...... and waited. At this point I had been speaking with a couple of close friends and my mom, I think searching for some kind of justification that it was all still a good idea. For a moment, I decided maybe I’ll go to Portland instead. Wait, no L.A. No... Portland. Or Philadelphia(?). For goodness sake?!! What was I doing? I continued to stare out a big brightly lit window, watching planes and cargo-loaders come and go, completely at a loss. And quite honestly, not just at a loss about which flight to take, but with the entirety of my life (seeing how I was hanging out at an airport instead of looking for work). No job. No kid. No agenda. No direction. No clue what to do with myself. Just sitting there.... quickly gaining a headache, stressing about where to go. What seemingly was spontaneous fun became ridiculously irresponsible and stupid. I had no real good logical reason for doing what I was doing. So....somewhere in the mist of all that waiting, logic ultimately reigned in and a flight to anywhere just lost its spark. It’s okay to sit at home.... EVEN if it’s for a whole week, and you have NOTHING to do.... Well besides find a job, or hike a mountain.... Or get some rest. Or get your photography website together. Or read a book, meditate, bask in the sun. Anything! Anything AT HOME...... It’s ok. (I think I need to join a Traveler’s Anonymous addiction group or something). This opportunist just needed to go home.

And so I did. This was my sad pathetic day at DIA.

Sigh.