Miracle on State Street

Howdy. I hope everyone is well. I’m doin’ all right. Been running like crazy lately, it feels like. I’m in Madison, Wisconsin checking out the freaks on State Street near the University of Wisconsin. Where else would I see portly old guy with a white beard dressed in a hunter orange sweat suit, carrying an overstuffed hunter orange backpack, pedaling an old bicycle down the street in flip-flops that were…. Yep, hunter orange. Looked like Santa Claus had escaped from prison.

I flew up here from Kansas City last Sunday. I had actually been working out of Lee’s Summit, Missouri for a little over a week, and the timing couldn’t have been better. I already had an airline ticket to KC to be a groomsman in Wes and Jessica’s wedding when I found out that Joe, one of our other pilots was being sent there to map Wyandotte County. I was planning on calling in sick for a couple days for the wedding, but I figured if I was working out of KC there was a decent chance I wouldn’t fly that day due to weather, or at worst I’d only have to call in sick for one day instead of two.

Joe was set to arrive in KC the same day I was, so I offered to buy him an airline ticket to DC and we’d just trade Cessnas. He and my boss agreed and the trade went off fairly well. Joe’s flights were delayed and he didn’t end up getting to the hotel until four or five in the morning. Fortunately, the weather in DC was bad and he had a chance to catch up on sleep.

I worked the Friday before the wedding, but quit a little early to go to the rehearsal and dinner. By the time I landed the winds aloft forecasts for the wedding day confirmed I’d have the day off without having to lie. I'm not a huge believer in divine intervention, but that's sure how it felt with everything working out the way it did. It was so great to be there and a part of it all without having to stress out about getting back to work half way across the continent.

The rehearsal dinner was at Zarda BBQ in Lenexa, KS. I was glad to be back in the land of good barbeque baked beans. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past four months, it’s that nobody makes beans like they do in Kansas City.

The day of the wedding was beautiful and aside from Pastor Ben dropping the rings, or maybe because of that, the ceremony will always be a cherished memory to me.

“These rings are a symbol of unbroken love and it’s fourth and fifty so GO LONG!!”