Dublin

I am in Dublin Ireland. It looked really cool from the sky... to bad I don’t get to see more of it. The fields were like a big green patchwork quilt stretching out as far as the eye could see, but alas, I am stuck in the airport for the next four hours awaiting my flight to Birmingham. This airport is a little different than what I’m used to. It felt like I was making my way through an outdated high school through narrow hallways and makeshift pass-throughs until I went through security, then it magically turned into a huge shopping mall with designer stores everywhere. I am currently sitting in a rooftop patio bar having a Bulmers cider and a Marlboro and wondering how slow the next few hours is going to go.

The flight was good. We landed 35 minutes early actually. Total flight time was about six and a half hours, and there was plenty of entertainment, with individual TV’s and a slew of movie, gaming and music options. I wish that I had been able to sleep, but seeing as how there was only about an hour of darkness, it was rather hard. We took off at 6:15 PM Chicago time, and landed at 7:15 AM, and somehow flew right along the edge where the sunset and sunrise collide, so needless to say, I’m all messed up. My body is saying what the hell are you doing still up? It’s 3:30 AM! Ugh. I can already tell this is going to be a long day.

Airports are of great intrigue to me... all of these people’s lives and paths colliding in a whirlwind of craziness, but everyone shares a common thread... we’re all going somewhere important. Whether it’s going to see loved ones, leaving loved ones, starting a new adventure or leaving one. There is an unexplainable anticipation that lingers in all airports, kind of an unseen thickness of mixed emotions caught up in the common flow of lives seeking love, purpose, and adventure. So many differences, and yet so many similarities. I love it.