I was on the first Northwest Airlines plane out of Duluth the Saturday after 9/11/01. The airport concourses in Minneapolis were like a mausoleum. I'm not a good flyer at any time but this flight from Mpls/St.Paul to San Francisco was worse than ever before. It may seem like a tired joke, but at least 10 people on the plane were obvious Arabs. Yikes!

There was a lot of thinking going on during that flight. In spite of the committment I had for a show that fall, I did what I have done so many times in my life. For better or worse, I made a decision...without much deliberation...and just DID it.

During the visit home, I met my nephew Sean's baby son..my great nephew...Braydon. On that plane I decided I didn't want to be a twice a year uncle. Sometimes life is like stew. You add a little of this and a little of that and...bing! Stew! Here the fragility of life, a little innocent baby, a big and dirty city, and that was it. I moved most of my life to Minnesota that December.

I don't regret it.

Rob