Random thoughts from O'Hare

As I approach my 5th hour sitting in the Chicago airport, I can't help but think of the 2004 Tom Hanks movie. Of course, in The Terminal he was stuck in an airport for much longer than this...but it sure doesn't seem like it. Actually, that's not true. The time has passed quickly because I've found ways to pass the the time and avoid boredom. Like taking the picture on the left about 5 minutes ago.

I knew I would be here a long time because our meeting ended extremely early today leaving me with alot of time to kill. But then, due to weather problems, it got even longer. So here are some random thoughts and observations about my day at the airport, in no particular order. I have avoided boring myself all day - I hope I can avoid boring you. (Is it too late?)

• My plan to use the day to catch up on my reading is going beautifully. I am trying to read the Harry Potter books before the final movie comes out. (Thanks for loaning them to me, Macy.) I've got a long, long way to go (I'm about 100 pages into volume 4), but air travel is definitely the way to read large chunks at a time. But still, you can't just read for 8 hours solid, especially when you stayed up 'til 2:00 the night before. Heavy eyelids. So fortunately, I've been able to break it up...

• I got a little break when I got an email asking me to check some statistics homework. So, I pulled out my Macbook, opened the email and Word document, and started checking. That helped me kill about 45 minutes, and it was kinda fun doing a little math. (Yes, I am a geek.)

• I had hoped to catch an earlier flight, but with all the weather issues I've been listening to announcements about flight delays all afternoon. Heck, I think I'm lucky that I'm going to get out of here at all. (And I guess it still could go wrong.) Right now, we're supposed to leave a little over an hour from now. This will get home around midnight.

• I went to get a personal size Chicago pizza a little while ago. It was delicious. There is nothing like a deep dish Chicago pizza.

• I am so glad that I'm driving home from Atlanta instead of flying all the way to Montgomery. I would definitely have missed the connection and I would be stressing about how to get home after landing in Atlanta. I stopped flying out of the local airport years ago...and this is why!

• While I was eating it, some dude came up to me and asked me to move so he could plug in his iPhone to charge. Yeah, I was sitting in front of a plug. That was interesting.

So I've read a little, ate a little, people-watched a little, did a little math, and started over again. It's really not so bad. People are so interesting and I've had a chance to watch them all day. An airport full of people with their own joys, sorrows, families, and priorities. I can't help but think about how each one is unique but all of them crave meaning in their lives and are made to reflect the image of their Creator. It's so easy to think of them as just a crowd. but they're not.

Still...

I'm ready to get home.

Time to get back to the book. July 15 will be here before I know it.