Notre Dame, the Lions, Motor City, Milwaukee, and Anthropology!

Rarely does a day pass when someone doesn't mention how quickly time passes.

 The Packard Plant in Detroit has been "abandoned" since 1957.

I remember 20 years ago or so, when my Dad said to me, "If you think time flies now, wait until you're a little older." I thought, "Yeah, right." That's how we all think at 18 or 20 years old. Right? But, as time has passed, it's gone faster.

The other day, I called my old college roommate (from 15 years ago!) and updated him on my new job, phone numbers, and all that good stuff. Brian has three kids now (he was never going to have any…) and he achieved his dream job right out of college when he worked for "one of the big three." He worked for Ford in a few different states. He's a human resources person, so his job hasn't been the most fun the last several years.

Now, he works for Harley–Davidson. He's usually in Milwaukee, but last week I found him in York, Pennsylvania. It was '93 when we went to a Billy Joel concert in Chicago and spent an afternoon on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. "Want to buy two tickets to the game? $50 each." College kids couldn't afford that … Whenever we talk, we say we wish we would have bought the tickets. We also went and watched the Lions play the Packers at County Stadium.

Another person said to me, "I don't know where the last 20 years have gone."

Last fall, Lori and I explored Detroit during a couple of different week–end adventures. We checked out the land that used to house Tiger Stadium; visited Michigan Central Station and debated taking a tour; walked around in the old, abandoned Packard Plant down near I–94. The Packard Plant is fascinating: abandoned in 1957, it still stands today and it's inhabited by many different people. I caught some great shots just walking around and I didn't get more than 100 feet into the vast palace. Time abandoned the Packards.

When you're young and in high school or college, the most meaningless (not at the time!) drama can have great effects on any of us. And sometimes, life seems to be moving way to slow when we're learning and growing up on campuses across America. Some days seem so stressful and problematic, but … suddenly 20 years have passed and that Anthropology 175 class where you scored a B+ but worked really hard sure does seem as meaningless now as it did then!

Time truly flies. Dad was right: if I think it's going fast now, just wait!

Good to see all of you again. Thanks for reading!