bau·ble noun \ˈbȯ-bəl, ˈbä-\
1: trinket
2: a fool's scepter
3: something of trifling appeal

This was my bauble, five years ago. March 25, 2008 is when I wrote this story. At the time, I felt like I was on top of the world. But that hope and promise, too, was just a bauble.

What is your bauble?

-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It was an amazing day.

I might finally have my business on the precipice of substantial growth.

Doubling staff. Increasing revenues and profits. Providing much more than just-in-time services for local small businesses.

Or, not. Because these things always seem to blow up or just fall through.

Best I can do is to just keep working towards it.

Meetings today went well. Having over an hour of conversational time trapped in a car with the assistant manager of client services for our vendor helped. I’m poised to get off of the road full-time and doing more advanced technical work – while still being available for the occasional service call. More employees could be added to take my place – and again, the hint of my company working direct instead of as a sub-contractor.

That in itself would be awesome.

The stars must have aligned for me today. Even my flights went smooth. 5:40AM flight to O’Hare left on-time. Connecting flight to Milwaukee left on-time. Flight from O’Hare to Charlotte left on-time and arrived early despite high winds and delays at both airports.

One more flight to take. So far, on time.

But by the time I get there I’ll probably have enough alcohol in me to not care.

The flight between Chicago and Charlotte… left me with one surprise.

Perhaps, even a bauble, as my friend Dena would put it.

Mid-flight, I had just woken from a nap to start the trip. The attendant left me with a refill of Bacardi and I was sitting back enjoying a drink, the sun beating in the window from the west, and reading an article in the airline magazine… the clouds below seemed to be a perfectly smooth blanket of white. Not a ripple nor a disturbance. The flight was smooth as anyone could ask for….

…and then, a small bump. Turbulence. But not any shaking or vibrating or bouncing as what you would normally have with prolonged turbulence.

Just a small bump.

Barely noticeable, but I felt it.

And looking out the window to my right, I saw it. A small line of white extending far out to the west. As if the clouds reached up for a moment in time to touch the airplane.

But clouds? No, it couldn't be. It was a vapor trail. A contrail. Left by an airplane miles out on the distant horizon.

I could see it; its metallic hull glistened in the sunlight. From it streamed a line of white vapor, and we flew through it, perfectly in line.

As a ship passing through another ship’s wake in the open waters, and I wondered… does anyone else notice? Has anyone else seen this? Can anyone else extend their vision to capture the moment in time this other traveler passed through the same spot we were just in?

Am I the only one who would observe this today?

And what are the odds?

This is… life.

My plane banked as it began its decent towards the runway below. The banking, the force, again filled my mind with wonder as I used to think looking up at the planes in the sky when I was younger. As a child I had always dreamed of being, flying, experiencing this.

Now it’s common. Almost a daily occurrence.

And every so often… it still fills me with wonder.

It has been an amazing day.