I love flying - always have. I get such a rush out of the whole experience - from walking down the concourse seeing all the different destinations, to the random assembly of people you pass by, to the act of flying itself. And I joyfully put up with long security lines, waiting at baggage claim, and even the occasional delay. Like the flight I'm waiting for right now. You see that time to the right? Our departure was supposed to be 4pm. Oh well.
Just a few short weeks ago, the entire Lindsley family boarded a flight out of the Charlotte airport to Orlando and Disney World. And now I'm back here, specifically at Gate E20, waiting to begin a five-day journey to Austin Texas as part of my sabbatical.
What will I be doing in Austin? That's a good question; one I've been asked a lot recently. It's kind of strange; usually when I fly somewhere I have a specific purpose in doing so; attending a conference or some other occasion. So usually it's easy to answer that question. But not so much this time. That's because I don't have any planned events I'm going to; no real agenda I'm following. Those of you who know me know this is very unlike me.
Here's the gist of what I'll be doing, as much as I know at the moment. I'll be staying in some housing at Austin Seminary, continuing my annual "tour" of Presbyterian Church (USA) seminaries (hey, some folks do major league ballparks, I do seminaries). During the day I'll do some reading and studying; I've brought a few books that go well with the music theme of my sabbatical, and I'll also check out the seminary library and bookstore too. In addition, the seminary is directly across the street from the University of Texas, which I hear is a pretty cool place. I hope to log some jogging miles checking out the campus.
The evenings, though, will bring about the primary reason for making Austin one of my sabbatical stops. In case you haven't heard, Austin has quite the live music scene, represented in a number of renowned festivals, the infamous Austin City Limits, and literally hundreds of live music venues. And they have live music seven days a week. I've heard the highest concentration of places are on 6th Street, which is a dozen or so blocks away from where I'll be staying. Pretty much every musical genre is represented - rock, folk, country, blues, jazz, classical and everything in between. A live music smorgasbord.
It probably won't come as much of a shock to know that I'm pretty excited about this. Recorded music is great and all - I won't be giving up my CDs and ipod anytime soon - but to experience music live is to experience music the way it is meant to be, apart from the studio magic that poisons so much of Top-40 radio. You simply can't hide a lack of ability when you're onstage in front of a crowd of people looking at you and listening to you. You can also get to the heart of the spirituality of music; that element that takes you to another level if you let it - the interplay between performers and crowd, a good jam that takes on a life of its own. You listen to a song on a CD or mp3 and it's the same every single time; you listen to a song played live and it's unique and different in each instance. It's that aspect that I'm excited about immersing myself in for a few days in what has been billed as "the live music capital of the world."
But I won't be just listening to music while I'm in Austin. I hope to do some songwriting as well, capturing a little bit of the vibe while I'm there. Which led me to make a decision that I semi-agonized over for a few days - bringing one of my guitars with me. I get a little nervous every time I check baggage, and for good reason. I can close my eyes and still see the scene: my wife and I, returning from a lovely honeymoon ten years ago, watching her hard-shell suitcase coming down the conveyor belt at baggage claim. It was wrapped in some kind of industrial plastic to hold it together. They never said what happened, but by the looks of things it had been run over by one of those baggage transport carts. Crushed a hard-shell suitcase!
So with that image ingrained in my mind I understandably went back and forth on bringing one of my prized guitars. I finally decided to do it, hoping I'd be able to keep it as a carry-on or at least check it at the gate with the plane right there. So far, so good. Feel free to say a prayer for my Taylor 310-CE if you think about it.
All in all I'm pretty psyched about the experience, other than being apart from the wife and kids for a few days. I'm looking forward to doing a lot of stuff but not having a firm plan I have to stick to. I'll make it up as I go along.
Hmm, looks like the flight may be leaving a little early now. They keep changing the schedule, making it hard for me to plan things out. And you know what? That's not such a bad thing. Kind of an appropriate way to start the week ahead of me.
Next stop - Austin, Texas!
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