Cajuns in Georgia

No, I did not actually fall off the face of the earth after all my house guests left! I just needed a little time to get myself together before the next round of work trips started up. I realize that you would never guess it from this blog, but I really do work between these adventures!

I walked out of the airport this evening into the warm, humidity laden embrace of Atlanta. I'm out here for the 4th of July weekend to work with some of our shooters during a competition being held at Fort Benning. I don't have any pictures to post, but just thought I'd let everyone know that I'm still alive & kicking and to tell my story of what a small world it is. . .

With mapquest directions in hand, I was making a sharp turn coming off an exit on the way to my hotel when I spotted a motorcyclist stranded on the side of the road. Being a firm believer in karma, especially motorcycle karma, I navigated my rental car to the shoulder and sized up the situation. Some guy is standing there with an amused look on his face staring at his Harley. I roll down my window and ask him if he's got it under control. He looks a little embarrassed and admits that he's run out of gas. He tells me that he just bought the bike and was so excited to ride that he didn't check the fuel. It was a mid-90s Fat Boy with a pretty sweet paint job, so I could understand his desire to take it for a spin ASAP.

If I can just use your cell phone, I'll give my wife a call to bring some gas out.

Sure, no worries and I hand him my phone.

At this point, I'm picking up a down-da-bayou accent and ask him where he's from.

Louisiana.

Yeah, what part?

Houma.

Are you kidding me?! I'm from Bayou Blue!

Turns out, Raymond is from Bourg! For the non-Cajuns reading this blog, Bourg is a couple of bayous over from the one I grew up on. He and his wife are physical therapists and just moved out here about a month ago. What are the odds?! He couldn't get in touch with his wife so I took him to the gas station just up the road. He kept apologizing for taking up my time but we both couldn't believe that Bayou Blue and Bourg natives met up on the side of the road in Columbus, GA! Of course we run through the "do you know so and so" list and discover that he played ball with my ex-brother-in-law. What a small world! During the evacuation for hurricane Katrina he had taken extra gas with him and was able to help out a few bikers on the way, so we chalked it up to his good karma coming back around. As Raymond thanked me profusely for helping him out, I pulled away from the gas station feeling pretty good about my contribution to the universe for the day!

Not sure if I'll post or not while I'm out here, so I'm sending out a "Happy 4th of July" wish to everyone now. I fly back to San Diego on Sunday evening and fly out to Colorado Springs on Monday morning. I'd appreciate some on-time-flight vibes from everyone so I can be where I need to be on time!