Things You've Never Done Before

We're in the sky on a plane heading to Atlanta ... because you can't go anywhere in Georgia without going through Atlanta. It thinks its the center of the universe drenched in bar-b-que sauce and politicians. The world's busiest airport is there and it will spew us out on another plane for the west coast. It professes to be a world class city but its not. It's more of a bunch of suburbs connected by the worst transportation scheme ever designed. Of course we had to drive through Savannah to get to the airport there. The Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (an oxymoron) is located on the other side of the county from Tybee Island where we live. Savannah thinks its the center of the universe too but in a more laid back way. Race, cocktails and half-truths are what the city's political system is designed around. It professes to be a religious city but it's not. We had the top down and were enjoying the ride in. It was cool. The view of the marsh across the Lazaretto Creek Bridge was stunning. We talked about our future and the things that we're going to do. We held hands and shared excitment for this trip. Driving through Savannah ... and flying through Atlanta ... I don't miss it. I've spent several life times in both. To quote Bob Dylan, "I've done that once. Why would I want to do it again? I'll do something else." Both cities treated me as a prince ... then later as a pauper. Now they're just settings for old stories that come in handy from time to time. Both are also lightly sprinkled with friends whom I still love ... and who still love me. It's funny to travel through such places. At one time they meant everything, demanded everything, consumed everything and ... in the end ... took everything. Tybee Island is a much more forgiving place. It has it's quirks, and the political system is as screwy as Congress, but holiness resides beside the sea. Celebrations are often because people either ran away from what they needed to distance themselves from or found what they were looking for ... all on the same clump of sand. This is a future flight though. I've spent decades traveling alone. Today Sarah sits beside me napping because its a long way to Seattle and then a couple of hours in a car and on a boat after that. We will hook up with Conner and Hania and a celebration will commence. We'll all see and do things that we've never done before. That's one of the secrets of staying young I think. Do things you've never done before ... and keep doing them. That's what Sarah and I are doing today. I hope that you are too.