Things I like about Airports

1.  It always feels exciting to go there.  Even if you're just going to Texas.
2.  When it's Christmas time, and I'm returning from a trip, it feels so.... Christmasy.  So Joyful and Welcoming.
3.  Watching people waiting for their loved ones to arrive... it is such a beautiful experience.  I think I would enjoy coming to the airport to just people watch in the arrival area.  When I come home from a trip when I parked at the airport, and I get off of the train, I always look for someone I know waiting for me at that arrival area.  And I always get a little sad (I confess, sometimes I even get a bit teary-eyed) when there is no one there waiting for me.  (Give me a break, I am usually coming home from a work trip where 4 hours of sleep is a good night's rest, and waking up at 4am is a normal experience.) Even when I know that no one will be there waiting for me, I still want to meet someone I love there and hug them hello.  And the car hello when they pull up to the curb is still good, but it just isn't anywhere nearly as cool.
    Every time I have flown home with the boys and Grammie Mel is waiting at the end of the hallway for us, I am overwhelmed with the beauty of this "reunion moment."  She stands there past security calling out for Daniel, and Daniel runs as fast as his little legs will allow with his roller suitcase bouncing behind him.  And they hug.  And Daniel tells her about something silly, and they laugh.  And then he jumps up and down for the next half hour that it takes to get the luggage and car seats and get to the car to see Papa Keys.
4.  The smell of the curbside pickup arrival area.   You know the spot that I'm talking about.  Where you go after you get your luggage and someone drives by, loads you in the car and drives away?  There is a smell there, and every single airport I've ever been to smells the same.  Sometimes the experience is a bit different because of the season or place, but they all smell the same.  And every single airport takes me back to one of two places. 1. The bus stop as a child.  Waiting for the bus to pick me up or just getting dropped off, relieved to be home.  2.  Waiting for my dad to pick me up from the airport to spend Christmas with the family.
    Regardless, there is something so nostalgic to me in bus fumes.  I know that's weird, but it makes me feel a little excited, a little nervous, a little relieved...  Who'd a thunk?  Bus fumes.
5.  Most people are very much in need of a good laugh at the airport, because they're rushing or exhausted or listened to a child scream their whole flight.  That makes it really easy for a joke to go over well, and smiling at other people for no particular reason is really well-received as well.  I always like it when I have an easy audience.