Capital #4a: Nashville

November 27, 2023

Ms. Foxy Allyse

KAF Session

Per usual, I did a KAF session to discover God’s heart for my trip to Nashville. Things that I saw or came to me:

I remembered a prayer about releasing trauma in a person’s life. What if I prayed this prayer over the land of each city that I visit?
I thought about the two politicians who were expelled from Tennessee legislature.
Foxy (my dog) barked at a cat: thought about how antagonistic behaviors are learned.
Lyrics to “Arms Open Wide.” At the time the melody stood out to me, but now I can’t even remember what the song is!

Nothing definitive came to me from these observations, but I would see how they played out once in Nashville.

Travel Day

Today was the first day I would drive to the airport and park in the ATL West parking garage (as opposed to catching Lyft/Uber). The only problem was that I used Google to find the lot and got completely turned around. I made three unintended stops:

Went to an incorrect parking lot
Went through South Terminal (Delta drop-off)
Went through North Terminal (e’rybody else’s drop-off)

I finally made it to ATL West. But my detours cost me about 20 minutes.

I catch the airport train, enter the airport, and see TSA Hell. It was only then that it clicked that the Monday after Thanksgiving would be crazy. The line for TSA was the WORST I had ever experienced at the airport.

This is a picture of the the ATL airport on a Monday, but not my Thanksgiving Monday. However, it gives you an idea of the craziness at ATL TSA.

Photo Credit here.

My TSA Journey

I entered the TSA line at 6:00 am for a 7:35 am flight. Between losing time looking for parking and leaving later than I anticipated, it was not looking good to make the flight.

I knew things weren’t looking good when my phone said 6:25, and I had moved about 20 feet. By 7:20 am, I had made it well into the bowels of the TSA queue line, but I still had about 20 minutes to get to the actual TSA agent to check my ID. And even if I did make it through TSA, I had to get to terminal D (after passing through terminals A, B, and C then walk to my specific gate). That’s when I exited the line.

Because this was an optional trip, I didn’t have to try to catch another flight to Nashville. Thank God. And, I was able to get an e-credit for my ticket.

But I was crushed nonetheless.

Che stupida for not connecting the travel dots with Thanksgiving.
Che stupida for not giving myself more time to get to the airport and go through TSA.
In all my 30+ years of traveling, I’ve never missed a flight.

I don’t believe in coincidences. And I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I just couldn’t believe that THIS happened for a reason! Perhaps I was spared from something? I don’t know. And I don’t know that I’ll ever know this side of eternity. But I do know that when I do travel to TN next, I’ll likely drive (so I can see family along the way). And I’ll be able to see a dear friend whom I wouldn’t have been able to see if I’d flown as scheduled. Anything else is yet to be revealed.

I’m writing this summary a month after this "almost trip" happened. Time has helped wash away the weight of the “crushed” feeling. Now writing about it, I’m like 🙄 for feeling crushed. I’ll let you know what happens on my rescheduled Nashville trip.