“It is not about following after someone else did it, or doing what someone else did, but just going beyond that. People who have accomplished great things were the ones who thought, ‘No, I can do it,’ when others said it was impossible, and they created something new.” — Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player
This past Tuesday evening, I enjoyed the opportunity to be with my family for a trip to Atlanta. My son Brent and his two sons, Caleb and Josiah, and I loaded up the car, leaving the peaceful setting in Lincoln County and heading for Interstate 20.
The trip was pretty normal until we hit the outskirts of I-20 at Conyers. Suddenly, the peace we left behind gave way to the clatter and clamor that alerted us that we had reached the edges of what is anything but peaceful: the city of Atlanta. Follow my thoughts as I saw nothing but cars, cars and more cars on this six-lane, and sometimes more, road in what my mind called Georgia’s version of the Indianapolis 500. Did I mention an overload of 18-wheelers? Tractor-trailers carry goods that all of us need to live our daily lives. We need them.
Gone are the days, like “Gone With The Wind,” when traffic was much lighter, and you could make that trip fairly quickly and be sitting up close to the stadium at the former Braves hangout, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. I recall going to that park, not far from the Georgia Capitol, and pulling up, handing the attendant a $10 bill, and maneuvering as close as a half-city-block walk to the stadium.
After reaching sight of the fairly new Braves enclave, Truist Park, the fun really began.
Thankful that my son was driving, I was pleased at how well he had brought us through several “spaghetti junctions” amongst thousands of cars and safely got us to our $80 parking deck.
Mind you, we were not close to the stadium yet. After making at least a three-block walk to the park, up and down steps, and across a highway or two, we finally made it to our seats. Why did we make this effort to see the Dodgers and Braves?