Dave Sabol

After the catastrophe of day that I had yesterday, today was a relative walk in the park. I arrived at the PHL airport a little more than 3-hours ahead of my departure, got through ticketing and security screening very smoothly and now find myself trying to kill time as I wait for my flight.

I had a pretty interesting interaction today as I settled in for my wait. The airport is really quiet so I thought I’d try to get some work done. I was able to find a spot with a strong WiFi signal and a conveniently located power outlet, which met my needs perfectly. As I got myself situated, I kept hearing the chirping of a bird and it sounded close. It caught me off guard (when is the last time you heard a bird in a airport terminal) so I started to search out the noise-maker. I scanned my entire surroundings but came up empty, but then just looked straight ahead and noticed that there was a little bird (I think it is a Song Sparrow) sitting a few seats away from me.

The interaction was great and I was able to snap a few pictures largely because the little bird was pretty uninterested in me. Now, however, as I think about it, it does raise a number of questions largely regarding what he was doing here. Was he an affluent bfird waiting for a flight south? Was he, perhaps a new pilot for U.S. Air? Or are the financial conditions of the airlines that bad that this is the newest member of their fleet? It was a pretty fun experience and one that immediately put a humorous twist on the day and hopefully sets the tone for the trip (chance and interesting encounters).

Now as I sit here and watch the flight board and listen to the departure announcements, I am a bit concerned about the flight out only because the weather here in Philly is less than ideal.

While the picture above isn’t that telling, it gives a flavor for the type of day it is. Last night (Sunday) we had a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain (affectionately called a wintery mix here in the mid-Atlantic). It made the roads pretty treacherous (especially early) and as a result traffic was moving pretty slow at times on the major roads. As I took the shuttle from the parking lot to the terminal here at the airport I noticed that the airport had the snow removal equipment going, presumably removing the slush and treating the runways, so I am sure it could have somewhat of an impact on my (and many others) travel plans.

Overall, the day seems like how I envisioned starting off my trip yesterday. I guess I just had to wait a day. Regardless, now that I am sitting in the airport closing in on my flight trip, the trip seems like it is more real than ever…at least a lot more than it did 24 hours ago. Until later…