First post from the road

Tonight I'm writing during a layover at the Denver International Airport in Colorado. As I was searching for a place to settle for the multi-hour stint in Terminal A, serendipity occurred when I walked by a young lady practicing violin in a spare seating section. By herself, facing outward toward the chilly, clear night and crescent moon just visible over a Frontier walkway, she is playing a sort of sad, but upbeat folk sound that would be right at home in Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?

The kindness and inner desire that people have to be social creatures really is exhibited here tonight. Most of you would be familiar with the fairly impersonal and isolated culture of airports where people are simply on their way from point A to point B and are usually tired, hungry, and cranky. The section near this young woman is filling up with passersby who both give her a small bubble of space, seeming not to want to disturb her practice, and who also sit in the adjoining seats to listen in. In only the span of a few minutes, quite a few people, before heading to their departure gates, have approached the violinist (what's the difference between a violin and a fiddle, by the way?) to give her thanks and, at one point, a few dollars as a small token of appreciation. It is a somewhat surreal scene that is both beautiful and peaceful.

This week was the first week of on-the-road training with BER and today was the first that I was alone with a presenter. All went well and I seem to be dealing with a pretty significant lack of sleep fairly well. However, this is only after a few days, so we'll see how the rest of this contract year goes. I'm enthused about it all. A fellow Program Manager created a restaurant blog to help others find all those hole-in-the-wall places that are a true treat when out in a strange city. I hope to use it and maybe contribute myself.