Man, talk about a blast from the past! I heard it playing softly in the airport as I finished up with security. Putting on my shoes a calm overtook me, not many’s first reaction, but hey, it’s me and the airport stuff doesn’t bother me. If they want to search my bag, go right ahead… I will just take my time putting on my belt, I had a place to sit where I can put my shoes on, easy. But that song, it brought me back in time, WOW, it rushed over me and took my breath and emotions for a trip. That plane ride, those people, that place, man, I want to go back there, back in time? Well, I don’t want to live in the past, so how can I bring the time back now? Those feelings? But living in the now, creating new feelings that will grab me like this at some later point in time. Live “your” life, if you want to go, GO! Don’t make excuses, that is how time passes you by so quickly and you wake up one morning and think, “What if?” That sucks. I don’t want to live like that. I wish I was back there right know. Now what am I going to do about it? Make a plan, I can’t go today, but I can start planing the trip today and make it happen. I want to take my wife there, I want her to know, to see, to feel the special, the calm, the excitement that is in this place. What song? What place? Does it even matter?
The Classic view of the town square in Minas, Uruguay. This photo was taken with my Canon Rebel G shot on Tmax. Man, that was a life time ago, but you know what? The feelings come rushing back just seeing this photo. What an amazing time I had in a butifle place.
So I don’t want to leave you hang’n. Name, by the Goo Goo Dolls, I listened to this on the plane to Uruguay years ago when I was there for a missions trip with the church I grew up in. The people, the atmosphere, the energy. No tourist trap here… Minas, this is a real place, with real people that were happy to tell you about their city, their country and culture. I even got to go for a ride in a ford model T. There was a man cleaning this really cool old car. We stopped to admire the car and struck up a conversation with him. It turned out that the car belonged to his boss and he was taking care of it. He was so excited to talk to us, to ask about where we lived and to tell us about his city. We talked for a while and he asked if we wanted to go for a ride in the car. We didn’t want to impose on him, but he insisted and he was excited to show us around the city, his city. So we hopped in and he showed us around and then even dropped us off at the front door of our hotel, Hotel Verdun. His name is Rodolfo, he stood in for a photo with my Dad and Gary for a photo in front of the freshly washed car. That is the kind of thing that you just can’t plan for and you will never experience if you don’t go. So go! Do anything, Do different, but Do, create, feel, it’s the story, it’s your story. This is one of mine and I will create many more to come. What’s yours? What do you want to remember?
This is one of those times that you never forget. On the left: Harry (my Dad), center: Garry, Righ: Rodolfo.
