Around a Firepit, My Interrogations Continue

Last night we went to a party in a Holyoke neighborhood where there were eight dogs in attendance. It was a birthday party for a Pomerian-mix named Pinot, and among the friends were a giant Great Dane named Willow and assorted Bichon Frise and little lapdogs. One tiny white dog kept barking in Willow’s face, challenging the slobbering behemoth, but she never took the bait.

Our hosts had just bought a new backyard firepit that stood upright with the fire contained in a vertical chamber. When the sun went down the pit was stoked, providing a cozy warmth in the cool May night air. Fires always bring out conversation, and as darkness cloaked us we stared at the flames.

Two of the men at the party worked for the FAA. I asked one of them a lot of questions and at one point I think I asked too many, the reporter in me is always looking for a story but I think it felt like a police interrogation. I backed off, apologizing, but later we got back to the topic of what the FAA does and what he does, which is the question I always want to ask people I meet for the first time.

I asked him about NextGen, the big push to bring more modern navigation to airline routes and he said it was a big, big job and a primary focus. He said that he travels around the country checking out airports and runways and that he loves to travel for fun, and goes often with our host and hostess on trips around the world. It was nice getting to know new people around a fire, and when we got up to leave and headed home, sleep came very quickly.