The stamp of sunlight shaped like window on my tray table makes me sleepy reminding me of our 5:30 AM wake-up call after a very late start to a fitful night’s sleep wondering if Mom made it to the house yet and will Scout be OK in our absence he hates it when we leave sulking in the corner with eyes that seem to call to us “please don’t go Grandma’s fine but she isn’t you.”
The engine hums, drones, whirs, purrs, stirs, draws a wordless noise through my ears reverberating in my cranium, my brainium, pulling it along my spine, wrapping under and around my toes as the farmland, wasteland, waterland, vastland blurs inconsequentially below. The snap of an overhead bin being slammed jars me from my noticing, really noticing, the vibrations-that-sound-causes-in-your-body reverie and I look up to see the flight attendant corking a bottle of wine for a first class passenger I’ve never flown first class and probably never will think what you could do with those extra hundreds of dollars just for a little more elbow room and a flight attendant who will cork a bottle of wine for you.
When a fly grazes by my ear a fly of all things on an airplane man will he be transported to a different place if/when he gets out of this metal tube talk about one heckuva free ride for a fly.
And I think about Beccah as I’ve done all day long wishing she were with us this family trip feeling not completely like a family trip because she isn’t here being grateful that Nicole could come with us thanks to her generous boss.
Going over the Great Lakes, Green Bay to be exact as my cartographic husband informs me after consulting his NWA World Traveler magazine, struggling to see the bay over the wing it’s not every day you fly over Green Bay, Wisconsin, while half the plane sleeps and I wish I were sleeping somewhat, too.
But I’m too excited knowing that my PLUs are waiting for us on the other side of this 2,000 plus mile journey across these great United States which will have a new president in 5 days I’ve already voted and am worried about how it’s all going to turn out after two close elections in the last eight years no, really, there is trepidation harboring deep inside me, guessing who will be there to greet us at 4:47 PM? Speculating that Eric probably worked today so it will likely be Maria and at least, no doubt, the eight-year-old Annemarie whose joyful purpose is undeniably one of the brightest things in my life.
Strongly wishing that the red onions in my Quizno’s turkey, Swiss, and ranch sandwich had been left off as requested have you ever been successful in removing all the unwanted red onions from a sandwich? that after-onion film growing staler and pastier every minute and extra wishing that I’d stopped for that pack of gum I’d promised myself once I got to the airport so very early this morning.
My Nicole sitting across the aisle from me with her Mac out working on some data she’s analyzing for work looking so grown-up and so official with her pen tucked on to her ear shelf with her ear buds in and she’s looking not only so grown-up and official but also so incredibly hip.
My sweet man right next to me the armrest up we fly so much apart that it’s a real treat to be on an airplane together with him to help me with my sufficiently over-packed luggage and negotiating the awkward logistics of the overhead bin and the sometimes frantic long term parking of the car and the holding of my hand when the airplane loses horizontal stabilization. I do so much better than I used to but I say a silent prayer upon every take-off and landing.
Being informed that we're now over Lake Superior thinking this is when using my seat cushion as a flotation device might come in handy thinking I wonder if I'll actually remember what to do in an emergency if that time ever comes because no one ever really pays attention to those demonstrations, do they?
And now I’m thinking geez, Cath, this is really a long post give your poor blog readers a break they’ve got better things to do than listen to you drone on much longer. So I’ll sign off for now and say to you have fun with your pre-Halloween festivities, mine include lots of hugs, joyful tears, and the feeling that in spite of the five months between us absolutely no time has passed whatsoever.
I'm trying to figure out if there's a message in the fact that your blogged stream of consciousness was initiated as you passed over Green Bay...my hometown...hope you gave it a friendly wave.
Posted by: Ms. Maxwell | October 31, 2008 at 12:59 AM
wow, your going on this trip has really caused you to reflect inward a lot today! I am worried that you have a lot more than usual going on and hope that your trip is a good one. Or maybe that it is you are so relaxed your brain kinda let go? Here's to having a safe trip!
Posted by: sandee | October 31, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Say hello to the eastern time zone for me!
Posted by: susan opel | October 31, 2008 at 11:19 AM
You should write a book. I read every single word until the very, very end and loved every minute of it. Seriously. Sue
Posted by: Susan Neal | November 05, 2008 at 04:43 PM