Travelling - despite it all - Can Be Fun

Far be it from me to complain about airline travel. Every time I consider complaining about a 6 hour delay in Denver, I just think of my pioneer ancestors who took up to 4 months just to cross the plains to arrive in Utah, and that quells such thoughts. I DO NOT want to meet them in the hereafter just to hear "you whiner!" Anyway, the key to tolerating delays, and travel in general, is to identify the fun things in life that are going on all around you. Last week I traveled to San Antonio, TX to witness Bill's graduation from Air Force Basic Training at Lackland AFB. On the way I got stuck in Denver. It was long (a definite relative observation) but there in the waiting area was a rather fascinating girl. She looked like she was practicing extreme gymnastics moves. Everyone was watching, some were laughing, some were incredulous, I was curious. At the first opportunity, I motioned her over and asked what she was practicing. Turns out her name is Danielle. She's 21 years old, graduating from college in June and just happens to make money in her spare time as a professional break dancer (eat your hearts out Chris and Josh!). Anyway, turns out she was on her way to San Diego for the graduation of her brother from Marine Basic Training so we had much in common and had a great talk about life. She was charming and nice and hopes to get on with Cirque as a performer before exploring other life options. Good luck Danielle and God bless you in whatever happens in the next few months.
Of course, you might think it would be hard to top meeting someone like Danielle in one trip. Well ... Ursula was certainly right up there. Ursula got on my flight from San Antonio to Dallas toward the end of the passengers and very politely asked if she could sit in the middle seat. I'd already met the man by the window, George, a very nice man, so I said to Ursula, "welcome to the funnest row on the plane. Can you handle that?" To which she replied, "Oh yeah, I'm fun!" And as it turned out, she is! First of all, you should know that Ursula is a chemical engineer. She grew up in the Dallas area but wound up taking a job up in Minnesota. She liked the job alright, but the weather sort of nagged at her. She needed a fun outlet, and what do you know, she found one. A little unorthodox, but fun indeed. She decided to start playing Roller Derby. Yes, Ursula is a chemical engineer Roller Derby queen! Now, because I grew up in the Bay Area and was able to watch Roller Derby every Saturday (the Bay Area Bombers played in the Cow Palace and were on TV every Saturday afternoon) Ursula and I were able to have a very fun and cogent conversation about what she really loves. Her team is moving into a 5,000 seat arena this spring and Ursula hopes if she doesn't get a little pay, she'll at least be able to play for free (it costs her about $400 a year for the privilege to get beat up once a week). So, my wish for Ursula is she'll become a Roller Derby star and make a million dollars doing what she loves. She actually is kind of a star. She had pictures of her with Drew Barrymore and all the stars of the movie Whip It which was filmed in her league.

And my wish for all the rest of you is the next time you travel, just look for the fun out there and it will appear!

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