Thursday was a busy work day for me, that would have me taking part in two different conventions in two different states. Such is the strange age we live in. I’m mass communicating!
In the morning, I took part in an exhibit at the conference in Wyoming that I had spoken at the day before. Like the previous day, physical, in person attendance was light, but I had a few masked and distanced conversations with architects and was there as much to support the organization as anything.
The exhibit went on all afternoon, but I packed up and headed out at noon because I had to virtually present at a similiar conference for the Montana version of this organization. That event was all virtual, so I hurried back to my hotel and got set up to give a presentation via Zoom.
That went well, and funny enough, got me in front of several times more attendees than the event I had driven four hours to present for. The presentation went well, and after I wrapped up, I got my stuff together and got in the car to head home.
On the way back, I had to dial into a committee meeting that was based in Chicago. It was really a multistate kind of day.
I was happy to be driving home, but couldn’t help but constantly notice the thick, yellow haze hanging all around from the wildfires out west. I can only imagine how bad it is in California and Oregon, because it even feels oppressive even up here.
Even when the world isn’t on fire, there is something surreal about driving through that part of Wyoming. The terrain is desolate and looks like something out of an old Star Trek episode.
It’s also one of those areas of the country that has LONG stretches between gas stations, and I did have one of those white knuckle moments where I got down to about 20 miles to empty before finally finding a gas station. A gas station that, I should note, was in the middle of nowhere, dusty, weird and, for some reason, was playing country Christmas music on the radio. Okee doke.
Anyway, I did eventually make it back to Colorado, and I was thrilled to see my family. Henry gave me a huge hug and held onto my leg, saying, “Daddy, I miss you.” Not pictured here: my heart melting.
I used to make trips like this twice a month, but it has been such a long time without traveling, I am way out of practice. Perhaps that is a good thing, and a silver lining in this crazy year. It is good being home.
