Dawn at SLC

Getting stuck overnight twice in two weeks doesn’t happen very often. Not to me, at least. But when your flight from Seattle to Salt Lake arrives twenty minutes after the last connector to Casper has departed and everything except your computers resides out of reach in a checked bag, it’s time to roll with the punches.

The airline provided a hotel and it was actually a decent overnight stay, friendly people, clean room. There was a drug store within walking distance where I found the essentials – toothpaste, etc.

I even found a clean shirt. Well, sort of… if you count a hoodie emblazoned with the logo of the local high school sports team.  Lovely. But given a choice between putting on a dirty shirt after my morning shower vs. acting as a sports billboard, I’ll swallow my pride. So, second day in the same shirt, until I get to my hotel in Casper. I’ll pawn the hoodie off on a family member.

Long story short, I now find myself watching the post-sunrise flurry of activity at the airport. And it’s actually sort of lovely. For those who’ve not been here, Salt Lake City sprawls across the alluvial fans of one mountain range with a view across a desolate valley to another mountain range. Lots to look at for a confirmed noticer.

Even better noticing is to be had in the terminal itself. A women just walked by totally oblivious to the people around her as she pantomimed her own private script. There’s a story there.

Clearly, it’s migration season for Mormons, as evidenced by the many small flocks of youngsters in suits and dresses, each proudly displaying a black badge identifying him or her as ‘Elder (insert name here)’. I mentioned this to Daughter Two, who in her response opined that perhaps the rapture requires TSA clearance.

It always amazes me how abruptly an airport goes from somnolence to frenzy as the people-shipping day begins.

I know this is blasphemy of a sort, since air travel has come to be a major pain in the caboose, but I have to admit I love spending an hour or two sitting out of the way watching a concourse come alive.

Gotta go now – the sun angle is just starting to reveal the folds in the mountains and I need to get back to my noticing.