Placeholders In Life

For whatever reason I enjoy revisiting places that I've been, I call them placeholders. For instance I've revisited almost every house that I lived in as I was growing up and it's brought back some great memories. 

October 2014

When my kids were growing up we trekked to the North Georgia mountains each fall to visit Burt's Pumpkin Farm. It was interesting to watch the farm and the surrounding areas change each year, just as my kids did. That location is a placeholder in my life.

FLL                                                                                          ATL                  

When it comes to my work life I've spent more time at the FLL (Ft. Lauderdale) & ATL (Atlanta) airports than any other airport. Both contain a placeholder, at FLL it's the Vendor with Walkman by Duane Hanson, in ATL it's the “Spirit of Atlanta” by Deborah Whitehouse at the top of the escalator.

If you've ever flown into ATL the only way out of the terminals is to take the escalator, and at the top of it, you're greeted by the 70' “Spirit of Atlanta” mural. I was living in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics, and my territory was downtown Atlanta, what an amazing 14 days in my life.

Over the past year or so there's been a Porsche mural in its place and now it seems that the “Spirit of Atlanta” will be replaced by a digital screen in the coming months, damn you technology.

I get that it's become a revenue stream, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's still sad to see something so familiar so easily replaced.