Trip Two: Southern California or What would the Duke do?

"Do I feel that I'll prove a match to this world? Does Gene Kelly sing in the rain? Yes I have a mind with a mind of its own, a soul like the soul of John Wayne. Wagons ho, move 'em out. 'Til the end of the trail, our love will never fail. Wagons ho." Paul Williams

The first big leap and I landed... at John Wayne airport on October 1st. My dad died on October 4, 1972. Funny how the eddies and streams take you past certain places at a particular moment in time. My dad loved John Wayne. On the 4th this year I was sitting only 2.7 miles (distance courtesy of a rented GPS called the "Neverlost" Should have been renamed the "Neverworks" though I bet the marketing team shot THAT one down in a heartbeat- so much for truth in advertising). But there I was. And though I think of my dad from time to time it is not usually on the anniversary of his death- a long time ago it seemed a day when the world ended but now, just a day. Being that close to John Wayne stirred the memory. I mentioned the significance of the day to a friend who asked- "Are you sad?" And I thought about it - not sad. My life has been my life because of all that happened, when it happened and I do believe everything occurs for a reason. But in thinking that night, sitting on my balcony in Costa Mesa- I thought, if I were to change anything- I would talk to my dad- just once, as an adult. No idea what I'd say. Maybe, as the same wise friend had suggested before, I would just listen.

I missed my return plane yesterday morning. A stupid rookie mistake in reading my itinerary and I wound up being rerouted through Houston to get home- an opportunity in disguise as I will tell you later. As I stood sheepishly in the long, long line at security I realized I had forgotten something. I argued with myself- about the shortness of time, about how odd I might look to security ducking under stanchions out of a line I had already been in for 15 minutes, about explaining to the ladies at the check-in counter how I might have missed yet another plane. But I had to do it. I ran downstairs, laptop and carry-on thunking against my hip.

Because I could think of a lot of things I might say to my dad- but I could not explain to him how I could go through that airport and not get a picture of John Wayne.

:Click:

Wagons. ho, Dad.

:)X