The Chase.

“We used to chase that Chattanooga freight

Couple of kids in a Chevrolet

Catch a little air when we cross the tracks

Sipping on something from a paper sack.”

If you have never chased a dream, you are missing out on life. Setting your sights on what you believe is an achievable goal may always be slightly out of reach, but one day if you work hard enough at it, you just might be surprised. I think we all dream of the surprise, however never actually believe we will make it.

During these strange times, we have seen a lot of our normal dreams fade away into an abyss. I mean whoever would have thought going on that once-in-a-lifetime vacation would be pushed aside for the unforeseeable future? If we thought 911 leveled our thought of getting on a plane, this makes 19 years ago look like a cakewalk. 

Yesterday I was at an estate sale (yes, during the pandemic) and I met a person who worked for the estate sale company who at one point had been a flight attendant for Delta Airlines. I found it intriguing, and commented, I didn’t think “Delta  had much of a presence here in Chicago.” Apparently at one point they had planned to—-but decided Cincinnati was a better choice.

I did ask if she had been a flight attendant around September 11, 2001, and she said, “I was not flying that particular day, but I am fairly certain I was on a flight with some of the hijackers who were planning the horrific crime.” What???

She explained on a flight about 2-3 months prior there were some passengers who “just weren’t acting right.” They were moving about the cabin, asked if they could see the pilot—-one of them showed a credentials that he was a pilot---plus other odd signs. She said, she and the other flight attendant kind of laughed it off thinking they had just witnessed another “crazy one” on a flight. Then September 11th happened.

She told one of her friends at Delta the story, and suddenly the FBI wanted to see her—-as in right away. Whereas she can’t say for sure the men on her flight were the actual hijackers, she and the FBI felt this was real. Can you imagine?

Obviously this is a dream I would not want to have, in fact, it would be more of a nightmare; but even as she told it, you could feel she was very much pained by that day and perhaps by not reporting what she experienced let this horrific event become an American tragedy.

She reminded me, as I thought about it after we left, that we need to chase the dreams we put off until tomorrow, and do them today.

The photo above was taken at one of the two mud games I have been fortunate to be a part be a part of; although I was photographing from the sidelines, these opportunities were a dream I chased since my first game I shot. It’s interesting, because the day of the game it rained so hard I was concerned about ruining my camera and not even going.. Thankfully I had my trusty Nikon to capture it, and my camera was insured.

Thanks for stopping by.